All I Want
by walkingproof
Summary: Gabriella's invited to the Danforth's for Christmas. She soon finds out that everything about this holiday for them is unconventional, from the cookie stealing Chad to the cocky Troy, and how no matter how hard she tries she starts breaking all the rules.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Hey everyone. Rin, Cori, and Stacey here to bring you the first Christmas story of the season. This story will have a chapter posted daily until December 25th [Christmas Day]. We hope you all enjoy it and leave us a review on what you think.

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All I Want

The campus was buzzing with anticipation as Gabriella Montez exited her Organic Chemistry final and began her walk back to her apartment. It was finals week at Stanford University, and Gabriella, just like the rest of the students, couldn't wait to go home for Christmas break.

Gabriella pulled her jacket more tightly around her shoulders as a cool winter breeze blew towards her. She couldn't wait to get back to the warmth of her apartment, where she could cuddle up in her bed with a cup of hot chocolate in hand.

As she climbed the steps to her second floor apartment that she shared with her best friend on campus, she could hear Charlie Brown's Christmas playing loudly from their apartment. With a small smirk on her face, Gabriella opened the door to see her best friend eating the frosted Christmas cookies she had baked to take home, while he intently watched the movie.

"Chad, I thought I told you I was taking those home," Gabriella amusedly reprimanded him, giggling as he tried to hide the evidence by stuffing three cookies in his mouth.

"Hey Gabs," Chad greeted, crumbs dusting the couch and floor as they fell from his mouth. "How was your final?"

"Not too bad. One down, two more to go. How about you?"

"Sports Marketing wasn't too bad. Now I just need to study for Macroeconomics," Chad informed her, his eyes still glued to the TV.

"I can see you're putting in the necessary study time," Gabriella commented sarcastically, unable to hide her smile as Chad sheepishly grinned.

"Well, they can't expect me to focus on studying the night they are showing Charlie Brown's Christmas can they? I mean, it's classic. I never miss this."

Gabriella laughed and grabbed a few cookies from the kitchen before plopping onto the couch next to Chad, handing over a Santa-shaped cookie to Chad's delight.

"I thought we weren't supposed to eat these," Chad said as he took a bite.

"Well, since you already ate half of the batch, I'll make some more tonight."

"Sweet!" Chad cheered before running into the kitchen and grabbing the rest of the cookies. Gabriella laughed as she stretched out across the couch, her feet laying where Chad had just been sitting.

When Chad came back into the room he automatically lifted up Gabriella's feet, plopping back onto the couch and settling her feet in his lap.

"For someone so small you sure take up a lot of the couch," Chad teased, handing her another cookie as he shot her a smile.

Gabriella just stuck out her tongue in reply, giggling as she started to eat the cookie as the pair settled into a comfortable silence, watching the movie that played on the small tv in front of them.

Chad scowled as the sound of Gabriella's phone ringing filled the small room, drowning out the sound of the tv. Gabriella fished the offending item out of her pocket, seeing it was her Mom that was calling before she answered it.

"Hi Mom," she said, swinging her legs off Chad's lap so she could leave the room to talk, not wanting to interrupt her best friend's movie.

Chad watched her leave the room before his attention focused back on his movie, drowning out the sound of Gabriella's soft voice from the next room. He didn't look up as she came back into the room, positioning herself back on the couch with her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around the tiny limbs.

It was a soft sob that tore Chad's attention away from the tv and back to his best friend.

"Gabi, what's wrong?" Chad asked as he reached out for her, letting her scramble onto his lap, burying her tear stained face into the crook of his neck as her sobs grew heavier.

After a few minutes the feel of Chad's hands rubbing her back calmed Gabriella down enough to speak and she kept her glance downwards as she spoke.

"Mom has to go away on business tomorrow, she won't be home for Christmas," Gabriella choked back her tears.

"So you go home with Patrick?" Chad suggested, his words being met with a furious head shaking from Gabriella.

"He's staying at school. He said he has important research to do in the lab with the science club," Gabriella answered with a roll of her eyes. "But I'll call and see if I can get him to change his mind."

Chad nodded his approval, kissing the top of Gabriella's head before she scrambled off his knee, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her hoody. Smiling hopefully Gabriella wandered back into the kitchen to call her boyfriend who answered his phone after only a few rings.

"Hello, Patrick speaking?" Was his greeting and Gabriella fought back the need to giggle at his usual, formal way of speaking.

"Hey, it's me," Gabriella's soft voice rung through to the living room where Chad had turned the tv down, his own phone in his hands as he dialed home, a plan formulating in his head as he suspected Patrick's answer.

"Hey Mom, it's Chad, listen Gabriella's Mom has to go away on business over Christmas…." He trailed off as he his Mom interrupted him, giving her approval before he even asked. "Thanks Mom, I'll ring and let you know if it's happening or not, bye."

Chad waited impatiently for Gabriella's phone call to end, knowing that he his suspicions of Patrick's answer were true as he heard Gabriella's voice growing impatient, her anger filtering through her words and then her heavy footsteps as she reentered the living room, her dark eyes seething in anger.

"How can a lab be more important than being with his family for Christmas," she muttered to herself as she paced the living room.

"Gabi," Chad tried to interrupt her, but Gabriella was past the point of listening.

"I can't believe he's picking the science club over his own girlfriend," her voice was louder this time, but still soft as hot angry tears spilt over.

"Gabriella," Chad tried again, standing up from his position on the couch, grabbing Gabriella's shoulder's gently as he haltered her pacing.

"Chad," Gabriella started, too frustrated to listen to him trying to rationalize her boyfriend's decision.

"No Gabi, listen. My Mom's invited you to come home with me for Christmas, based on the grounds that you bring cookies with you," Chad joked.

Gabriella's eyes widened, "She said that?"

"Uh huh, well not the cookie's part, but the part about you coming home for Christmas, my whole family will be there, so she said you're more than welcome."

As Chad's words sunk in a huge smile spread across Gabriella's face.

"Just watch out for Aunt Ethel, okay? She's scary." Chad warned with an equally huge smile.

"But won't your Mom and Dad just want their family around for Christmas, I don't think your roommate fits into that category."

Chad knew she had been too easily swayed before, knowing that Gabriella was very shy and the prospect of spending her Christmas with the untraditional Danforth bunch was probably quite daunting.

"I know it won't be the quiet, private Christmas you usually have, but it'll be better than staying here for the holidays, my Mom loves you, she thinks your sweet, and my sisters can't wait to meet you, probably to tell you all the embarrassing things I did."

"I don't know Chad, maybe I should stay here, get ahead on my studying," Gabriella replied, her voice sounding uneasy.

"You've been ahead on studying since the day I met you," Chad teased and Gabriella blushed. "You could not study at all and you'd still get top marks."

Gabriella's face turned serious with Chad's second remark. "Everyone has to study, Chad."

"I'll make you a deal, I'll study with you, let you help me make all your little study aids and everything if you come home with me for Christmas," Chad reasoned, knowing Gabriella was always trying to get him to study more often and more efficiently.

Gabriella thought it through for a minute. "Deal, but only if you stay away from the cookies."

--

Two days later and Gabriella was doing the last of her packing for her trip to New Mexico with Chad for Christmas while Chad was only just starting his packing, coming into Gabriella's room every few minutes to ask her if she knew where his various belongings were.

It was important to Gabriella to be organized for something as big as going home for Christmas and as an actual fact she had been almost completely packed to go home for almost two weeks now, only her daily essentials needed to be added and the few last pieces of clothing.

Chad on the other hand was the kind of person still be remembering things he had to pack as they walked out the door on their way to the airport, namely important things like clothes and his toothbrush. So far all he had started packing were his "essentials" his iPod, video games and his favourite basketball.

"Gabi, have you seen my iPod?" Chad's afro popped around the corner.

"Coffee table, Chad," Gabriella answered as she folded her last item of clothing before placing it in her neatly arranged suitcase. "And your earphones are under your bed."

Gabriella often wondered how someone as organized and shy as herself could become best friends with a messy, loud jock, but it was still a mystery to her. Her thoughts were interrupted as Chad came back into her bedroom, his iPod in hand.

"I just realised, Troy will be home for Christmas! You'll get to meet him as well, but don't listen to anything he tells you about me, it'll be all lies," Chad said excitedly and Gabriella remembered all his stories of his childhood best friend, Troy Bolton, Chad's co-captain of their high school basketball team.

"I'm sure they will be, Chad," Gabriella replied softly, "Just like he's going to say all the things you've told me about him are lies?"

"Precisely," Chad agreed before he left the room to finish packing. Gabriella started packing away her laptop to take with her and when that was done she placed her luggage by the front door and went to help Chad, making sure he had enough clean clothes to last their visit.

Leaving Chad to find his sneakers Gabriella went to say goodbye to their two roommates who were also packing to leave to go home for Christmas the following morning. After wishing them a happy Christmas Gabriella returned to Chad, finding him waiting for her.

"You finished?" Chad asked as he slung his bag over his shoulder. Gabriella nodded as Chad picked up her bag. "Where are the cookies?"

Gabriella giggled at Chad's worried tone and his paled face. "In the kitchen, I'll just go get them."

Chad still looked pale, but relieved to see the box of sugary treats in her hand.

"Okay, we have the cookies, we're set to go," Chad let Gabriella walk through the door first before he followed, neither knowing that the next time they were at their apartment things would be much different for one of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **We're back to bring you another good 'ol chapter of "All I Want" we hope you all enjoyed the first. We had a question that seemed to baffle us but we'll answer. Yes Chad is Gabriella's roommate and best friend, and Patrick is her boyfriend. Sorry if we didn't make that clear enough, but we hope it clears up any questions you did have. So here is the second chapter, enjoy =]

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**All I Want**

Gabriella gazed out the airplane window, her eyes focused on the green grass and sunny skies as the airplane rolled along on the runway towards the terminal.

"You'll get used to it," Chad commented lightly as he leaned over her to look out the window. Gabriella giggled softly and shook her head. Growing up in New York, Gabriella had grown accustomed to White Christmases. Never once had she been somewhere where it hadn't snowed during Christmas time. Normally, she'd be wearing a bulky jacket and a scarf, but today she was dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans, and never before had that felt so strange to her.

As the plane came to a stop and the pilot gave the okay, Gabriella and Chad stood up, gathering their carry-on items before exiting the plane. Quickly finding the baggage claim, the two began the wait for their luggage.

Chad's phone beeped and he flipped it open, reading the text message before flipping it shut again. "So my mom said she'd meet us out front at the curbside. She has my three sisters with her. I apologize in advance."

Gabriella giggled, grabbing her bag off of the conveyer belt when she spotted it. "Your sisters can't be that bad."

"Maybe not to you. But having three younger sisters definitely takes a toll on a guy."

Gabriella rolled her eyes in amusement. "Hey, there's your bag," she pointed out, tapping Chad lightly on the arm and pushing him forward. "Okay, let's go."

Gabriella went to sling her bag over her shoulder only to feel it stop mid-air. Confused, she glanced over to see Chad holding the strap of her bag with one hand.

"Chad, it's okay. I can carry it."

Chad shook his head defiantly before pulling the bag from her grasp and placing it on his shoulders. "No way. I'm about to be the only male in the car with a bunch of females, and I know for a fact my mom will give me crap if I let you carry your bag."

Gabriella laughed, following Chad as he made his way through the airport, her luggage flung around his shoulders while he carried his bag in his right hand.

The two spotted Chad's mom waiting by the bright red minivan on the curbside. Gabriella could see the door open and two young girls inside—a sixteen year old in the front passenger seat who was busy with her cell phone, a fourteen year old in the back who was listening to her ipod, while their ten year old sister was seemingly attached to her mom's hip waiting by the curb.

"Kitty!" The ten year old's voice rang out as she recognized Chad. Gabriella looked over at Chad with her eyebrows raised, laughing at Chad whose face was turning red.

"Kitty?" Gabriella managed to ask through her laughter.

"Oh no, hide me," Chad muttered, ducking his head behind Gabriella's shoulder as he attempted to cover his face.

Gabriella continued to walk forward, an embarrassed Chad still holding onto her awkwardly while they made their way to the van. The second they were within a few feet of the van, Gabriella stepped aside as Chad's ten year old sister came barreling towards him.

"Kitty!" She exclaimed again, jumping up and hugging him tightly around his neck, causing him to drop the bag that was in his hand. Chad nervously glanced around making sure no one he knew was hearing this aside from the giggling Gabriella beside him.

"Hey Jordynn," Chad greeted the little girl, trying to hide his embarrassment. Chad bent down and picked her up off of the ground and let her rest her cheek on his shoulder before gently dropping her back to her feet.

"Kitty, we're all so excited you're home!" Chad grinned at his little sister, ruffling her hair before peering into the van. "Hey Shannon! Hey Madison!"

Getting no response except a dismissive wave of the hand from the oldest girl, Shannon, Chad glanced back down at Jordynn. "Yeah, they seem excited," he muttered sarcastically, causing Jordynn and Gabriella to laugh.

"Hey kids, let's go!" Mrs. Danforth called out.

Chad picked the bag back up before leading the way to his mom's van. After tossing the luggage in the back, Chad led Gabriella around the side towards the door of the van.

"So Kitty, huh?" Gabriella asked, stifling a laugh.

"Utter a word to any soul and I will make living with me even more miserable for you," Chad threatened, causing Gabriella to laugh even more. "I'm serious Gabi."

"You're not going to tell me where it's from?" Chad shook his head. "Not even if I bribe you with cookies?"

Chad suddenly got a contemplative look in his eyes before shaking his head as if in a conversation with himself. "As amazing as those cookies are, I can't take the risk of this being known back at home. Please Gabi, don't say anything. For me," Chad gave her his best pleading smile, his face lighting up as she reluctantly agreed.

"Fine, my lips are sealed," Gabriella sighed, dramatically using her fingers to motion the zipping of her lips.

Chad held out his arm, motioning for Gabriella to hop into the van first. Once inside, Chad slid the door shut, fastening his seatbelt before making introductions.

"Okay, obviously Gabi, you remember my mom," Chad pointed towards Sara Danforth who smiled back at Gabriella before putting the car in gear.

"Of course. Hi Mrs. Danforth. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you." Gabriella greeted politely.

"Sweetie, call me Sara." Gabriella nodded before returning her attention to Chad.

"And in the front is my little sister Shannon," Chad motioned to the girl in the front, still too busy on her phone, "who apparently is too busy to be polite." Chad shoved the front passenger seat, smirking in satisfaction as the girl turned to glare at him.

"So nice to have you home dear brother," she mumbled under her breath, causing Chad to chuckle.

"Glad you feel that way. Anyways, where are your manners? Say 'hi' to Gabi."

"Hi Gabi. I still don't know how you live with this dork," Shannon said with a smirk before spinning back around to focus on her phone once more.

"It isn't always the easiest," Gabriella responded, giggling at Chad's incredulous look.

"Thanks Gabs. I'll be sure to remember to get you an awesome gift for Christmas." Gabriella rolled her eyes amusedly at Chad's dramatics. "And in the back is Jordynn, who you already met," Gabriella smiled and waved at the young girl who was waving back with a huge grin. "And, the one who's not listening is Madison."

Chad reached back and tugged the earphone out of his younger sister's ear, pointing at Gabriella when the girl shot him a glare. "Pay attention next time. This is Gabi."

"Hi Gabi, it's nice to meet you."

"You too," Gabriella responded with a smile, that Madison returned before putting her earphones back in.

"So that's everyone," Chad exhaled. "Except my dad, who you'll meet tonight at dinner, and of course Troy. He is supposed to be back from college today as well, so hopefully you'll meet him soon."

"Ah yes, the infamous Troy. I'm sure we'll have lots of stories to exchange," Gabriella commented lightheartedly, bumping Chad's elbow with hers.

"Great," Chad sighed under his breath.

"Did you say Troy was coming over?" Shannon asked excitedly, spinning around in her set.

"And that gets her attention," Chad whispered sarcastically to Gabriella. "Yes, Troy is coming over at some point."

Shannon beamed and turned to face her mom. "Mom, can Jen come over tonight, please please please?"

Chad rolled his eyes. "I vote no on this one."

"Shut up Chad. Mommy?"

Chad sighed, leaning over towards Gabriella. "Jen is her best friend, and the two of them have this unhealthy crush on Troy. It's quite disturbing sometimes."

Gabriella nodded her head as Sara gave her answer. "She can come over, only if her parents are okay with it, alright?"

Shannon squealed in excitement before hurriedly dialing her best friend's number.

"Jen! Guess who's coming to my house tonight? …yes! Ahhhh!" Chad groaned, plugging his ears at the high pitch scream. "I know! Oh my gosh! I can't wait….Yes! You HAVE to come over. Check with your parents…..Ahhh! I know. This is the best start to Christmas vacation, EVER! Okay, I'll see you tonight at 7:00! Bye!"

Chad pulled out his phone, quickly punching in a text message before leaning towards Gabriella. "Looks like Troy will be needing earplugs tonight."

"Sounds like a smart idea," Gabriella said, glancing at the girl who was now bouncing excitedly in the front seat. "And I gotta say, I'm more excited to meet Troy now knowing he has such an avid teenage girl fanclub."

"Well, don't be a bit surprised if we spend most of this break at Troy's. I can only deal with so many squealing girls."

"Same here," Gabriella told him before focusing her eyes back on the road ahead of them, anxious to spend her Christmas break with her best friend and his family.

Once they pulled in the driveway, Chad went around to the back of the van carrying his and Gabriella's bags inside.

"Chad, I can carry my own bag now," Gabriella said once they'd gone upstairs. "Your mom and sisters won't see."

"No Gabi, I will not let you carry your own bags," Chad told her in an unnecessarily loud voice while winking at her.

Gabriella shook her head while rolling her eyes at his actions.

"I swear they'll kill me if I let you carry your bags," Chad whispered to her. "Or even worse, my mom won't make me her famous chocolate chip Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes in the morning."

"That would be a tragedy."

"I know right?" Chad responded, oblivious to her sarcastic tone. "Anyways, Jordynn's going to stay in Shannon and Madison's room for the next couple of weeks, so you get her room."

"Are you sure she's okay with that? I can just sleep on the couch or something," Gabriella offered as Chad led her down the hallway.

"She's fine with it. For some reason, she's actually excited to room with the two older girls," Chad assured her, stopping in front of a bedroom door with Jordynn's name on it. "Now, you'll have to excuse all of the pink and all the posters of the teenage boys from her favorite band," Chad added while pushing open the door. "God knows I couldn't stay in here with that for a couple of weeks, so good luck."

Gabriella playfully shoved Chad's shoulder, following him into the bedroom, her eyes wandering over the ten year old girl's room. She smiled at all of the posters before taking her bag from Chad and tossing it on the bed.

"Okay, I can't stand to be in this room any longer." Gabriella giggled as Chad shuddered while his eyes glanced around the room. "Seriously, it's like they're staring right at me."

"Oh come on, you wimp. Let's go see your room," Gabriella told him, pushing him out the door and following him down the hall. "I'm sure I can find something embarrassing in here from your childhood," Gabriella commented as the two entered his room.

"Nope. As you can see, just basketball posters," Chad grinned while motioning at his walls. "Nothing embarrassing at all."

Gabriella laughed at how proud he was before making her way to his bed, her eyes scanning over the pictures of various NBA players and teams on the walls as Chad walked towards his closet, beginning to unpack his suitcase. As she sat down, she began tossing his stuffed basketball in the air before leaning back against the pillows, getting more comfortable. Leaning back, she felt something poke into her. Sitting up she reached behind her, and pulled out a small stuffed animal that was a dark brown dog with floppy ears and a collar with the name 'Rover' on it.

Gabriella felt a huge grin erupt on her face before she tried to put on a straight face as she cleared her throat.

"Chad?"

Chad stopped unpacking and spun around. "Yep?"

"Nothing embarrassing huh?" Gabriella smirked while holding Rover up by the ears.

"That's Madison's I swear."

"Sure it is." Gabriella giggled before tossing it on the bed beside her. "That's why it was hidden behind YOUR pillow. Care to explain?"

Chad stuttered for a few moments and was saved as someone knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in!"

The door was pushed open to reveal Shannon standing behind it, a bright smile on her face.

"Hey Chad, Mom just wanted you to know that since Jen's coming over at 7:00, we're gonna have dinner then."

"Okay, thanks Shannon."

Shannon shifted nervously while biting her lip gently. "Um, do you know if Troy's going to be here for dinner?"

Chad glanced at Gabriella, subtly rolling his eyes before looking back at his sister. "I'm not sure. It's up to him."

"That's cool," Shannon said, trying to seem calm but both Chad and Gabriella could tell she was overflowing with excitement. Shannon cell phone beeped and she pulled it out, her smile becoming wider as she read the text message. "Yes! Allie and Laura are coming over too!" She squealed again, quickly replying to the text. "I'll see you guys at dinner. I have to go tell mom."

"This is not good," Chad shook his head in disbelief, whipping out his cell phone.

"What's wrong now?" Gabriella asked, amused at Chad's obvious lack of thrill over the situation.

"Other than the fact that there are now two more squealing girls, Laura happens to have a crush on me and she doesn't understand that I am happily taken," Chad informed her while dialing a number, holding up his finger to her as he motioned that he'd be just a second. Gabriella laughed to herself, highly amused with the current situation as she tossed the basketball in the air a few more times.

"Troy! Hey man, you got my text? Good….What do you mean not tonight?....No. Dude, you're coming over….because Allie and Laura are coming over too," Gabriella looked over at Chad as she heard Troy erupt in fits of laughter from the other end of the phone. "Dude, stop laughing." Chad sighed, holding the phone away from his ear as Troy continued to laugh. "I wouldn't laugh if I were you. I only have one to deal with. You have four….you're coming and that's it man. Look if I'm going down, you're going down with me. I'll see you in a few."

Chad sighed and tossed his phone on the bed before flopping beside Gabriella.

"Troy will be here in a few minutes," Chad told her, while grabbing the basketball from her and tossing it in the air.

"Awesome," Gabriella said, while sitting up cross-legged on the bed, facing Chad. "I can't wait to ask him about this little guy," Gabriella teased, holding up Rover to Chad.

Chad sighed, taking an extra pillow and burying his face in it. "This is going to be a long night."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **Hey everyone we're back again. We're glad that everyone seems to be liking the story, but i just want to give a heads up. Troy in this chapter, as you will see, is physically different than your normal Troy. It plays into the story as well, and their might be a few surprises along the way. so enjoy and leave us a review.

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All I Want

Gabriella sat on the floor of Jordynn's room with her textbook open and her notebook in her lap, reviewing some of the upcoming material in her biochemistry class. The book was flipped open to the section on glycolysis, and Gabriella jotted down the various reactions in the pathway in her notebook. After finishing jotting down each step in the pathway, she began to memorize the products, reactants, and enzymes involved.

She decided to cut her review short by reaching for her phone and dialing an all too familiar number. Letting it ring she sat back against the foot of the bed.

"You have reached Patrick's mobile phone, please leave your name and a detailed message after the tone."

Gabriella sighed but decided to leave a message anyways, "Patrick it's Gabriella. I just wanted to call and see how your holiday was going. I know you're going to be in the lab most of the time, but try to get out and celebrate at some point. Not all fun is in the biochemistry lab. Love you, Bye."

"What are you doing?"

Gabriella's head shot up to meet a disgruntled Chad, "Um, studying?"

"I said no textbooks on this trip. How did you manage to smuggle this in?" He reached for the book and notebook before waving it in her face.

She blushed, "I might have snuck it in when you were looking for your shoes."

Chad huffed, "Well I'm confiscating it for the rest of the break. Give me the others."

Tilting her head to the side she smiled innocently, "What others?"

Chad rolled his eyes and walked over to her suitcase and unzipped it. "Good Lord woman!" Chad looked down to see all of her school books stacked in the suitcase. Without uttering another word he re-zipped it and lugged it into the hall.

Gabriella scrambled up off the floor, "What are you doing?"

"I said no studying, so I'm putting all of this in my closet." Gabriella crossed her arms with a frown as she watched him walk away towards his room.

"What makes you think I won't come get them?" She hollered down the hall.

"Because I know for a fact you wouldn't want to go in there." Chad called over his shoulder.

Gabriella smiled before jogging up to him and following him inside his room, "Aww, it can't be that bad. What are there like unknown species living in it?"

"Probably. Scientists would kill to have a look in there." A voice came from behind her causing her to jump in surprise. She turned to see a guy with black hair dishelved into a faux hawk standing there with a smile on his face.

"Troy, my man! You came, I knew you wouldn't let me face those crazy heathens alone." Chad dropped the suitcase and walked over to Troy to give him a 'man' hug.

"Ah see, that's the beauty of it. I came to watch, not to beat them away with a stick."

"Bastard." Chad muttered under his breath before looking back at Gabriella, "Troy this is my friend and roommate, Gabriella Montez."

Gabriella let her eyes scan over Troy who was now leaning casually against the wall, a smirk playing across his lips, though Gabriella wasn't entirely sure why.

He had on a dark blue paid button down shirt, unbuttoned just far enough down for her to see the white undershirt he wore underneath and the sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, showing off his tanned, muscular arms.

Gabriella noted the way the shirt showed off his trim but muscular body, leading down to his dark wash jeans that covered his long legs, two black converse covered feet poking out at the bottom.

Letting her eyes roam back up to Troy's face she noticed how blue his eyes were, a bright shade filled with amusement and satisfaction which caused her to blush when she realized how intently she had been staring at the attractive man.

"So how're classes going man?" Chad jumped straight into an easy conversation.

"Ah, pretty good. Is it bad to say I'm already ready to graduate?" She watched as Troy gave him a sheepish smile.

"You were never patient."

Troy chuckled, "Looks who's talking."

Gabriella found herself unable to stop her gaze from drifting to Troy as the three of them sat in Chad's room, the boys catching up on everything that had been going on in their lives.

She wondered what his hair felt like, the dark strands obviously had some hair product in them but they still looked soft, like they would slip between her fingers easily.

Gabriella shook her head softly, as to not attract the attention of Troy and Chad and she found herself blushing once again as Troy looked up and noticed her watching him. He winked at her and Gabriella cast her eyes down to her lap, conjuring up an image of Patrick in her head, trying to focus on thoughts of her boyfriend rather than the blue eyed man sitting across from her.

"Dinner's ready," a young female voice said interrupting Gabriella's thoughts. "Hi Troy," the young girl giggled before leaving.

Gabriella looked up just in time to see Shannon's head disappear back through the door.

"Well, let us subject ourselves to the kind of torture China would envy." Gabriella giggled at Chad's exasperated tone causing Troy's attention to divert solely to her.

Chad began to make his way out of the room, and Gabriella glanced over at Troy before following Chad to see Troy staring at her. Troy's smile grew as he realized she was looking back at him causing Gabriella to shyly look away before heading downstairs after Chad.

As Gabriella entered the noisy dining room, she glanced around at the table looking for a seat, before taking the open seat next to Chad. She watched Troy enter the room moments later, taking the only open spot that was between Jordynn and Shannon, directly across from Gabriella.

Troy sat down, looking to his right as he heard Shannon's chair scooting closer, only to be met with an innocent smile followed by giggles from the two girls next to Shannon. Unable to control himself, Chad burst out in laughter at the round of giggles, leading him to choke on his sip of water.

It took no less than three seconds from the moment Chad began coughing for Laura to make her way over to Chad. The young girl wasted no time in grabbing Chad's arms and pulling them above his head, as she slapped his back to ensure he was breathing okay.

Gabriella covered her mouth attempting to hold in her laughter as she watched the scene unfold, letting a few giggles escape as she heard Troy laughing as well.

Chad took a few deep breaths, finally catching his breath.

"I'm okay everyone," Chad spoke up, coughing as he was still being slapped in the back by Laura. "Laura! I'm fine!"

"Are you sure?" She asked persistently. "You need some more water?"

Laura leaned over Chad, grabbing her own glass of water seeing his water was near empty and handing hers to him.

"Here Chad," she told him, placing the glass in his hand. "You can have my water. Don't worry, I don't have any germs or anything."

Chad did his best to smile gratefully at the young girl despite the snickers he heard from Gabriella and Troy.

"Thank you Laura, but I think I'm okay," Chad told her, placing her glass back in her hand.

"Are you sure? I can get you something else if you want it."

"Really Laura, I'm good. You can sit back down."

"You're sure you don't need anything else?" Laura asked once more.

Chad shook his head emphatically. "Laura, I don't know if you know this, but right now you are standing in between me and my mom's home cooking, which is a dangerous place to be."

Gabriella couldn't help but giggle at what Chad had said, looking across from her as she heard Troy begin to laugh as well. As Troy's eyes locked on hers, Gabriella blushed and looked down at her plate.

"Can we eat now?" Chad asked impatiently, causing everyone to laugh once more.

"Sure. Dig in kids," Mrs. Danforth ordered.

Chad whooped before grabbing the pot of mashed potatoes in front of him and scooping large spoonfuls on his plate, only stopping as he heard Gabriella stifle a laugh.

"What?" He asked innocently, the mashed potatoes falling off of the spoon onto his plate. "Oh, did you want some?"

"If you don't mind," Gabriella said lightheartedly, shaking her head in disbelief as Chad dropped a tiny spoonful on her plate before putting more on his. "Thanks," Gabriella muttered, deciding getting more mashed potatoes was out of the question.

"Can someone pass the salt and pepper?" Gabriella glanced up from her plate at Troy's question to see Troy's eyes focused on the salt and pepper shakers between Shannon, Laura, Allie and Jen.

"Here Troy!" Three of the four girls chorused as they all reached for the two shakers in the center, successfully knocking them both over. Troy rolled his eyes, watching as Shannon quickly picked up the two shakers.

"Here you go Troy," she said sweetly, giggling as his hand touched hers.

"Thanks," Troy looked at her and said politely, ignoring the excited squeals the four girls were making.

The adults at the table along with Chad, Troy, and Gabriella soon fell into a comfortable conversation about freshmen year at college, the two guys doing their best to ignore the constant stares and various squeals from Shannon and her friends.

As Gabriella finished everything on her plate she politely grabbed it and stood.

"Oh no dear, leave your dishes for the boys." Mrs. Danforth said sternly.

"Honestly it's fine, I don't mind."

Mrs. Danforth shot her a stern motherly look, "Please leave it Gabriella."

Gabriella was about to respectfully decline but was cut off as her plate was taken from her hands. She turned to see Troy balancing her plate along with his.

"Thanks." She said quietly.

Troy winked at her before disappearing into the kitchen where Gabriella heard the water turn on and plates being stacked in the sink.

She sat back down at the dinner table and listened as Mrs. Danforth went into a story about Chad and Troy from when they were younger. She could already tell that this Christmas was going to be different than all the others, she just wasn't sure how different it was going to be.

* * *

**AN:** Ah, so there's the end. what did you think about Troy? if you need a visual its his faux hawk from the BMA's in '06 and the the clothes are from the HSM3 pep rally. Leave us a review letting us know what you thought. I would also like to repeat, we update EVERYDAY, so there is no need to ask when we update next. Thnx.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** Here is chapter 4. We're glad you're all enjoying the story, this chapter starts with a bit of the troyella goodness. Someone asked if this story is Troyella, yes it is just look at the top where it lists the pairing of the story. review.

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All I Want

"Yes!" Chad exclaimed loudly as he, Troy, and Gabriella walked into the mall. "They got a new DDR game! We have to go in there!"

Gabriella couldn't suppress the giggle the escaped as she watched Chad's eyes light up at the sight of the local arcade. Chad was literally bouncing along, as he attempted to veer off towards the arcade, halted when Troy grabbed a hold of the back of his collar.

"Hold up man. No way in hell are you getting me to play Dance Dance Revolution with you."

"Dude, come on. Let's just go in for a second. I miss this place. We used to waste our allowances here when we were kids!" Chad exclaimed to Troy.

"Chad, you still waste money at the arcade, you borrowed ten dollars off me last week to go there, remember?" Gabriella pointed out, making Troy laugh out loud and causing Chad to blush.

The three had decided to do some Christmas shopping at the mall, and the boys were having a ton of fun reminiscing about their childhood the entire way there.

"Fine. Hey, I need to get Shannon some makeup, Gabs, what shop do you suggest?" Chad asked as they continued through the mall, weaving through the huge crowds of restless shoppers.

Gabriella sent him a skeptical look. "Chad, look at me, am I wearing any makeup?" Gabriella asked softly, causing Troy to burst out with laughter again.

"How should I know? Maybe you're doing that thing chicks do where they're wearing so much makeup it looks natural?" Chad stammered, stopping outside a shop that looked like it would sell makeup. Chad pointed towards the store, a questioning look on his face as he looked to Gabriella for her opinion.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at Chad, about to reply when her cell phone started ringing.

"I'll just answer this," she told the boys as she wrestled the phone out of her jeans pocket before she walked off to the side, trying to find a spot out of the way where she could take the call.

"Chad, why didn't you tell me that your roommate was so hot?" Troy muttered as he watched Gabriella's retreating back, his eyes lingering on her denim clad behind.

"Because she's got a boyfriend, and she's not your type, dude," Chad replied, shaking his head.

"A boyfriend? Really? What's he like?" Troy asked, a frown settling across his perfect features as he thought about another guy's hands being on her body, jealousy flowing through his veins. "And what do you mean she's not my type?"

"I've never met him, he's at Yale, but um, he seems like a bit of a nerd. Scratch that…he is a nerd," Chad laughed at the thought of the several brief phone conversations he had had with Patrick. "And she's nice, and smart, not like the blonde bimbos you usually fuck."

Troy shrugged his shoulders, looking up to see Gabriella returning to them, her brown eyes connected with Troy's mesmerizing blues and a blush covered her cheeks, making Troy grin at the effect he seemingly had on the shy girl.

"Patrick?" Chad asked simply as Gabriella reached them.

"Yeah, seeing I got here okay, he couldn't talk long, he had to get back to the lab," Gabriella replied sadly. "Let's look in here for Shannon's present."

Neither Chad nor Troy missed the way she hurried to change the subject, obviously hurt at how little time her boyfriend had for her lately. They followed her into the shop where the three of them looked blankly at various items before a salesperson approached them, helping Chad pick out a few items for Shannon.

An hour later, the three were heading to the food court, Troy and Chad loudly discussing which was better, McDonalds or Burger King, drawing the stares of a few people around them.

"Chad, Troy, people are _looking_," Gabriella muttered, tugging gently on Chad's arm, her cheeks flushed bright red with the attraction the boys had drawn, she couldn't stand people looking at her.

"Sorry, Gabs," Chad said softly. "What do you want for lunch?"

"I might just grab a smoothie from Robeks," Gabriella replied, tilting her head in the direction of the nearby juice bar. "I'm still quite full from the pancakes your Mom made for breakfast."

Chad looked ready to drool at the mention of his Mom's pancakes and Troy shook his head, winking at Gabriella before elbowing Chad.

"Come on, Danforth, I'll pay for lunch if we have Burger King," Troy bargained, laughing as Chad's eyes snapped to him, a huge grin spread across his face.

"What are we standing here talking for? Let's go, Bolton! I need food," Chad stalked off across the food court, leaving Troy and Gabriella standing alone, Gabriella immediately down casting her eyes in nervousness.

"We'll meet you in one of the booths over there, okay Ella?" Troy asked, pointing over to where there were a few empty booths, the nickname sliding off his tongue easily, making Gabriella blush even more.

"Okay," she managed to get out, lifting her eyes up to meet briefly with Troy's piercing blues before she tore herself away, the way that his eyes bore into her mocha coloured ones made her stomach flutter and she thought of Patrick, how the very same thing used to happen when he looked at her.

-----

An hour later and Chad had sent Gabriella away so that he could buy her Christmas present, even though Gabriella knew he would be buying her the same present he always got her, a stuffed animal, usually the strangest one he could find and a box her favorite chocolates.

"Troy, the frog or the moose?" Chad asked Troy, holding up a huge, bright green frog and a smaller brown, fuzzy moose.

Troy's gaze didn't move from the other side of the department store where Gabriella was looking at clothing, watching her hold the garments up to her body, screwing her nose up at most of the garments which Troy would've killed to see her in.

Gabriella was so absorbed in looking at the clothing attire that was far less modest than the type of clothing she normally wore that she didn't notice Troy's gaze on her, or the roll of Chad's eyes when he realised that for the umpteenth time that day he was having to interrupt Troy's daydream about Gabriella.

"Earth to Troy," Chad said tapping Troy on the shoulder making him jump, a scowl settling across Troy's face when he realised it was just Chad interrupting his thoughts again.

"What?" Troy sighed, tearing his gaze away from Gabriella who now had a red low cut sweater held up against her curvy body.

"How many times do I have to mention the name Patrick to you?" Chad asked, shaking his head. "She's in love with him, Troy. They've been together for like…. ever."

"Who said I was watching El…. Gabriella?" Troy covered up the almost slip. "I was watching the blonde in the miniskirt"

"Whatever dude. Now, what one do you think I should get Gabs?" Chad held up the two options again.

Troy contemplated the question for a second before he pointed to the moose which was the same chocolate colour as Gabriella's dark curls.

"The moose, no girl wants a giant frog, Chad," Troy teased.

"If I was a chick I'd want one," Chad shrugged. "Come on let's go get the chocolates before Gabriella gets bored of looking at clothes."

Troy smirked at his best friend's comment.

"Chad, if you were a chick, the world would be a screwed up place," he called out to the afro haired man who simply pulled a rude hand gesture in return.

-----

Later that night, after dinner, Gabriella and Chad sat in Chad's bedroom, listening to music and just hanging out.

"What do you think of Troy?" Chad asked suddenly.

"He's nice, why do you ask?" Was Gabriella's questioned reply as she flipped over to her stomach so she could watch her best friend as they talked.

"I can't have my two best friends not liking each other," Chad reasoned. "He thinks you're pretty cool."

Gabriella tried to hide the smile that crossed her face at Chad's comment, trying to remind herself that Troy's opinion of her didn't matter, she had Patrick.

"Yeah, he thought you were pretty hot," Chad shrugged as if the comment was no big deal, but he was secretly looking for Gabriella's reaction.

"Really?" Gabriella managed to hide the excitement from her voice. "Well it doesn't matter what he thinks, I have Patrick."

"That's what I told him. That you were in love with Patrick," Chad said matter of factly. "But Troy doesn't like to listen to good advice."

"Well he'd be wasting his time, Chad. You're right. You know I love Patrick," Gabriella closed her eyes as she conquered up an image of her boyfriend, a smile crossing her lips at the mental image of the blonde haired boy.

"Exactly. And you're not his type either," Chad commented, picking up his stereo remote to change the song.

"What is his type?" Gabriella asked curiously, making sure she didn't make eye contact with Chad, knowing he could read her like a book.

"Blonde, no brains, a quick, easy fuck."

Gabriella blushed at the words Chad used, no matter how many times he cursed around her Gabriella still couldn't help feel a little uncomfortable, especially when the words were used to describe sex.

"Yuck, I'm really not his type then," Gabriella screwed up her nose at the thought of how many girls they'd seen at the mall that day that met Chad's description, wondering how many of those girls Troy had found attractive.

Chad's mind was filled the with same thought about how many girls of his description they had seen that day, and he was surprised to realize that all day Troy's eye hadn't been on any of them. He had only had eyes for Gabriella.

"_Oh shit,"_ Chad thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Next chapter, i know you're all excited. The response to this story has been amazing and we can't thank you enough. A lot of the reviews are cracking us up, so keep 'em comin!

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All I Want

The next morning Gabriella awoke early as usual, confused for a brief moment about where she was before she remembered that she was at Chad's home for Christmas. Suddenly, she was flooded with memories of the day before.

After Chad's words of warning the night before, Troy had called to discuss their plans the next day and Gabriella had excused herself to bed, deciding to call Patrick again, with the hope to replace the thoughts of Troy with those of her boyfriend.

But Patrick - after less than a minute of conversation - had declared that he was too tired to speak any more and he needed to go to bed since he had an early start in the lab in the morning, leaving Gabriella to ponder over Chad's comments about Troy, wondering what had provoked his warnings of Troy's "kind of girl".

This had led to a rather restless night of sleep for Gabriella, and as a result she wasn't too willing to get out of bed, but she knew she needed to get her mind working before she drove herself crazy with her thoughts.

Once out of bed Gabriella brushed her messy curls up into a high ponytail before heading to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, figuring that she'd just get out of her pajamas later in the day, knowing Chad's family was out for the day and she wouldn't run into any of them.

Gabriella also knew that Chad would be asleep for many more hours, probably until afternoon to make up for all the early mornings he had to wake up for class. Heading downstairs, Gabriella made her way to the kitchen, finding a bowl and some Fruit Loops, adding milk to the mix and pouring herself a cup of coffee before sitting down to eat.

As she ate, Gabriella flipped open her book she had brought to read, losing herself in the plot causing her to continue reading way after she finished the bowl of cereal and her cup of coffee.

An hour after she had come downstairs, Gabriella finally realized how long she had been reading for and hurried to clear away her dishes, stacking them in the dishwasher before she returned her book upstairs, having decided to bake some more Christmas cookies since Chad and Troy had eaten most of them the night that they had arrived home.

When Gabriella returned to the kitchen she turned on the small stereo that was on the counter, searching for a good station before she set to find the ingredients she needed to make the cookies, not needing a recipe since she baked them all the time and had long ago memorized the ingredients list and quantities for each.

Gabriella was so absorbed in her baking that she didn't hear the knock on the front door, nor did she hear a certain blue eyed boy entering the house. Troy paused when he reached the kitchen and was met with the alluring view of Gabriella glad in dark blue cotton pajamas pants and a short, white tank top as she swayed softly to the music while she rolled out the cookie dough.

Troy was transfixed by the view. He'd never been one to really notice girls who hadn't been out to impress him. Girls were always in the skimpiest of clothing, faces covered with makeup and their hair done perfectly. But there was something so amazingly beautiful about the sight of Gabriella. Her dark curls were messy in their hairstyle, her skin glowing of its own accord, free from makeup yet still flawless and her pajamas covered her in a modest way, but still allowed him to see her curves which was incredibly sexy to him.

Troy cleared his throat softly, startling Gabriella who was unaware of Troy's presence. Spinning around Gabriella's cheeks turned a bright shade of red as she spotted Troy leaning against the doorframe, his dark hair failing into his eyes instead of being styled like usual.

"Uh, hi?" Gabriella stammered, making Troy smile even more at her awkwardness.

"Hey, what are you baking?" Troy asked, taking a few steps in Gabriella's direction, making her turn back to the cookie dough.

"Christmas cookies," Gabriella replied softly, not being able to manage more than a few words at a time.

"You made the ones me and Chad ate the other night, didn't you?" Troy asked, loving how shy she was in her answers.

"Yeah," Gabriella could almost feel Troy behind her, he was standing so close. His hot breath brushed against her exposed neck and she broke out in goose bumps.

"They tasted really good," Troy said, reaching a hand out to stroke down her arm as he saw her shiver involuntarily. "Are you cold?"

"No, I uh… um…" Gabriella trailed off and Troy chuckled behind her, moving his hand off her arm, leaving the spot burning.

Troy reached out to grab a bit of the cookie dough, quickly placing it in his mouth before Gabriella could say anything.

"You're meant to wait until it's cooked," Gabriella muttered shyly.

"It tastes better this way, even though your cookies were probably the best I've ever tasted. Even better than my Mom's," Troy praised, stepping away from Gabriella and hoisting himself onto the counter next to her, noticing how red her cheeks still were.

The pair were silent for a few minutes as Gabriella finished rolling out the cookie dough before using the cutters to make the cookies, placing them on the tray and then into the oven.

Troy jumped off the counter, walking over to Gabriella who took a step backwards for every step he took forwards until she was backed against the kitchen wall. Troy grinned at her actions, stopping in front of her.

"You got a little flour, right there," Troy used his thumb to brush off the flour that had settled on Gabriella's cheek and Gabriella's breath hitched in her throat at the touch.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"So where's Chad?" Troy asked, not moving away from Gabriella.

"Bed?" Gabriella more asked than answered.

"I should've guessed as much," Troy replied. "Does that mean I'll get some cookies before him?"

Gabriella nodded, having lost the ability to breathe and form a sentence at the same time due to the close proximity of Troy's body to her own.

"He'll be jealous," Troy bragged. "That'll teach him for still being asleep even though he told me to be over at 10:00."

Gabriella nodded again, starting to feel faint from the lack of oxygen entering her body.

"So where did you learn to back such amazing cookies?" Troy asked, taking a step back from Gabriella, watching as her shoulders relaxed slightly.

"My Mom," Gabriella managed to get out.

"So the ability to make mouth watering cookies is in your blood?" Troy teased.

"I guess?" Was Gabriella's answer.

"You guess what?" Came Chad's voice from the doorway.

"Dude, you could've put some clothes on!" Troy complained, taking in his best friend standing there in his boxers and wifebeater.

"You could've woken me up when you got here," Chad replied. "Do I smell cookies?"

"Gabriella was keeping me company, right?" Troy asked Gabriella, winking at her which made the blush settle on her cheeks again.

Gabriella nodded meekly at Troy before turning to Chad. "You do smell cookies, since you two ate most of the ones I brought, I had to make some new ones."

"Aww, Gabs, please can't we just have a few? You know you make the best cookies in the entire world," Chad begged, slipping an arm around Gabriella's shoulders.

Troy noticed that Chad's touch didn't have any effect on Gabriella. She merely rolled her eyes and elbowed Chad slightly in the ribs.

"Even if I said no, you'd just sneak some," Gabriella teased, a soft giggle escaping as she took in Chad's innocent look.

"Never!" Chad exclaimed.

Troy felt slightly jealous at the way Gabriella so easily talked to Chad, full sentences instead of just a word or two.

The timer going off interrupted the conversation and Gabriella turned back to the oven, bending over to retrieve the now baked cookies and Troy couldn't help but stare at the view.

Chad noticed where Troy's gaze was lingering and punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"Ow! Hey!" Troy called out, scowling at Chad. "That wasn't called for, dude."

"Chad, if you're going to be a bully you won't get cookies," Gabriella warned, not even turning around but knowing Chad would be pouting slightly at her comment.

"Yeah Chad, play nicely," Troy teased.

"I'm going to go take a shower while the cookies cool down, can I trust you two not to eat them?" Gabriella asked, shaking her head at the "who me?" expressions on both of the boy's faces.

"Of course you can!"

"We won't touch them!"

"I don't trust either of you," Gabriella called out as she left the room, heading upstairs and leaving the two boys alone.

"So what did you and Gabs talk about this morning?" Chad inquired as he started to make himself a coffee. "Do you want one?"

"Sure," Troy replied. "And we didn't talk about much, just her cookie making skills, she didn't say much."

"Just remember she has a boyfriend, Troy," Chad said as he passed him a coffee. "I don't need you breaking my best friend's heart like you have done to countless other girls."

"Why do you think I'm just going to go and break her heart?" Troy retorted.

"Maybe because you've crushed every girl who's liked you since elementary?" Chad said with a sigh.

"You're exaggerating," Troy scoffed. "I've only had a few girlfriends."

"Exactly my point. You're Troy Bolton, you don't date, you just fuck with girls' emotions and leave them broken when you find someone new."

"Chad, you know that's ridiculous," Troy replied. "No wonder Gabriella won't talk to me, you've probably filled her head with all these stories."

"Whatever," Chad said offhandedly, dropping the conversation as the pair drunk their coffees in silence.

"I'm not going to break her heart, Chad," Troy suddenly said, his voice full of confidence.

"Troy," Chad started, stopping as he heard Gabriella's footsteps coming down the stairs. "Let's just drop it."

"Oh wow, the cookies are all still there!" Gabriella exclaimed as she entered the kitchen.

"Told you that we wouldn't eat them, Gab," Chad said, smiling at her.

"And I told you I didn't trust you," Gabriella teased.

"Well you were wrong weren't you?" Chad smirked. "But we should eat some while we watch Home Alone."

"Okay Chad, but only because I want to watch the movie and not listen to you whine about your stomach," Gabriella replied, laughing softly when both Troy and Chad's faces lit up with excitement. "Get the milk and I'll get the cookies."


	6. Chapter 6

"This kid is a freakin genius!" Chad exclaimed, almost bouncing in his seat on the couch next to Gabriella.

Chad leaned forward in his seat, reaching for the plate of cookies and grabbing a reindeer-shaped cookie before dipping it in his glass of milk as he returned his attention to the movie playing in front of him.

"If it wasn't for this movie, Troy and I would have never come up with such good pranks as kids," Chad told Gabriella, crumbs escaping from his mouth as he talked excitedly.

"You two did THIS as kids?" Gabriella asked Chad in disbelief, her hand raised to point at the TV screen where Marv had stepped on glass ornaments barefoot.

"No not this," Troy told Gabriella from his spot on the recliner next to the couch.

"But we did this one," Chad said, his tone of voice revealing his anticipation of the upcoming scene.

Gabriella watched as Chad stopped eating his cookie, focusing intently on the screen in front of him before bursting out laughing.

"Freakin genius I tell you! I mean, silicon on plastic wrap and then the feathers!" Chad managed to choke out between his laughter. "Troy, you remember when we did that to Mike?" Chad asked, referring to Troy's older brother.

"Yeah, I remember," Troy grinned. "Although, it didn't work quite as planned, seeing as you thought Elmer's glue would work just fine instead of silicon."

"We were all out, and we knew Mike was coming. I was twelve, man. How was I supposed to know that wouldn't work?"

Troy heard a soft giggle next to Chad, and glanced over to see Gabriella struggling to control her laughter. Troy watched as she brushed a stray curl from in front of her face, her eyes lighting up as she continued to laugh, Troy finding it one of the cutest things he'd seen.

"So he got glue all over his face?" Gabriella finally asked.

"Yeah, and he sure as hell wasn't happy about that," Troy told her, his arm dangling over the side of the chair as he reached for the plate of cookies, smiling appreciatively at her when she picked up the plate and held it closer to him.

"He got over it though," Chad said nonchalantly, frowning as he reached for another cookie only to notice the plate had moved.

"Sure he did," Troy laughed. "After he spent the whole afternoon and evening picking glue out of his hair. I paid for that prank for awhile though. He dyed my hair blue that year, and I ended up having to shave my head."

Chad erupted in laughter at the memory. "Dude, I remember that. I still have a bunch of blackmail pictures of your blue hair, and that shaved look you had going on. You know, you should go back to that style," Chad joked, ducking as a pillow came flying at his head.

"Shut up Chad. Don't make me bust out the pictures of your hair when Jordynn put pink bows and butterfly clips in it after you had fallen asleep on the couch."

Chad's laughter quickly died down as he sent Troy a stern glare.

"That's what I thought," Troy smirked before returning his attention to the movie.

"Hey Chad?" Gabriella spoke up softly.

"Yeah?" Chad asked distractedly, his attention still on the movie.

"Where does your mom keep her photo albums?" Gabriella asked, moving to stand up off the couch.

"Don't you dare Montez," Chad warned, grabbing hold of her wrist and tugging a giggling Gabriella back down next to him. "I'm sure I can share some embarrassing facts about you."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, folding her legs underneath her as she sat next to Chad.

"Hey Ella," Troy whispered, gaining Gabriella's attention as she glanced at him shyly. "Don't worry. I'll show you the pictures later," Troy winked at her, chuckling to himself as he saw her blush.

A few minutes later, the movie ended and Gabriella listened quietly as Troy and Chad chatted about basketball. The three turned their heads as the front door opened, Chad struggling to hold in his laughter as Shannon stepped through, squealing for a moment as she noticed Troy sitting there.

"Hi Troy!" She greeted excitedly, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Troy replied, obviously uncomfortable with her giddiness.

"Great, well I have to go call someone. I'll be right back!" Shannon waved flirtatiously before darting up the stairs.

"Don't worry about saying 'hi' to Gabriella or me sis! Just pretend like we don't exist," Chad yelled towards the steps.

"Chad shut up! I'm on the phone!"

Chad rolled his eyes before returning his attention to Troy and Gabriella. "So you guys want to watch the second one now?"

"Hey mom! Can Allie, Laura, and Jen come over?" Chad paused as he heard his sister's question.

"Sure sweetie, that's fine!" Mrs. Danforth replied.

"Oh hell no," Chad said quickly, jumping up from the couch and gathering the milk and cookies.

"Where's the fire Chad?" Troy asked amusedly, popping another cookie in his mouth.

"I don't know about you Troy, but there is no way I'm sticking around here for more of Shannon and her friends. They got out of school early today and they will be around here for most of the night I'm sure."

"My place?" Troy said suddenly, the realization dawning on him.

"Hell yes!" Chad responded. "Gabriella, you grab the movie. I'll go get the cookies, and then we'll book it out of here."

Gabriella laughed as she watched Chad dart out of the room, only to return seconds later with a large ziploc bag filled with over twenty cookies. Chad made his way to the front door, pulling it open, only to slam it shut immediately.

Chad leaned back against the door, taking a few deep breaths as Troy and Gabriella watched in amusement. "Crap! They're fast! How'd they get here already?"

As if a light bulb went off in his head, Chad suddenly darted again towards the kitchen.

"Chad where are you going?" Troy asked as he followed after him towards the kitchen, Gabriella walking behind them with the movie in hand.

"Dude, I can't handle Laura being all over me again. I'm going out the back way," Chad said, not giving either a chance to respond as he darted out the back door.

"I swear, he's such a drama queen sometimes," Troy commented while rolling his eyes, earning a soft giggle from Gabriella which caused him to grin. "After you," Troy held out his arm motioning for Gabriella to walk towards the door, smiling as he saw her blush before making her way towards the door.

Gabriella walked outside and went to make her way around the corner, only to run into Chad who had stopped abruptly, causing Troy to bump into her.

Gabriella felt her breath catch in her throat as Troy's hands gripped onto her waist, steadying her for a few moments.

"Sorry about that," Troy said softly in her ear, reluctantly releasing his hands from her waist. "Some people should really learn not to freak out so much," Troy commented, reaching his hand over her to smack Chad's head.

"Dude, Tay will kill me if she knows I let this girl openly flirt with me. Trust me, I'd rather go over the top and act like an idiot, then risk her wrath when she finds out," Chad whispered softly, sighing as he heard the door shut. "Okay, let's go."

The three made their way around the side of the house, stopping at the house that was next door. Troy pulled out his key and quickly opened the front door, allowing Chad and Gabriella to enter first before leading them into the kitchen.

"You can set the movie here if you want," Troy told Gabriella, patting the kitchen countertop before hopping up to sit on the counter. "Now that we've escaped the crazy admirers, what do you guys want to do?"

"Basketball!" Chad suggested immediately.

"Fine with me," Troy agreed. "Gabriella?"

Gabriella glanced up at Chad nervously, causing Chad to immediately regret his suggestion. "Oh crap. Gabs I'm sorry. We can do something else, since you don't really play ball."

"No, it's okay Chad. You two play. I can sit by the side and watch," Gabriella attempted to assure him.

"That'd be too boring for you," Troy said, shaking his head. "You can play with us."

"No, I'm not that good," Gabriella admitted quietly, her eyes briefly connecting with Troy's before she looked away.

"No problem," Troy told her with a grin. "Chad's not either. He could use your help."

"Thanks man," Chad muttered sarcastically.

"You're welcome buddy," Troy chuckled, patting him on the back before walking outside, Gabriella and Chad in tow. "Alright," Troy began, picking up a basketball off the lawn next to the court and spinning it on his finger. "First one to ten?"

"Game on, hoops!" Chad agreed. "You take first outs."

Troy nodded and brushed past Gabriella, who was looking slightly overwhelmed at the idea of playing basketball with Troy and Chad. Troy winked at her as she took a breath once their arms brushed together, before he settled at the top of the key, lazily passing the ball around his back to himself.

"Alright Gabs," Chad stepped closer, placing his hands on Gabriella's arms and gently guiding her to the correct position. "You guard him up there, and if he gets past you, then I'll pick him up."

"You mean when he gets past me. Look Chad, I really don't have to play. I can just sit on the side over there," Gabriella protested, spinning around to look at Chad who was already in a defensive position near the bottom of the key.

"Gabs, I don't want you sitting out. Trust me, you'll have fun."

"Gabriella, he won't say it, but he really could use your help," Troy piped in.

"Shut up Hoops!" Chad sent a stern look to Troy before returning his attention to Gabriella. "Just stay in a position like this and move your feet," Chad told her, demonstrating the defensive stance. "Try to keep him in front of you alright?"

Gabriella nodded hesitantly, awkwardly trying to mimic Chad's stance before turning back to face an amused Troy.

"Check."

Troy bounced the ball to Gabriella, who awkwardly caught the ball before tossing it back to Troy. Troy smiled watching her nervous look as he began to dribble side to side, it being obvious to him that she had been one of those kids who hated PE in high school.

Deciding he'd tortured her enough, Troy quickly crossed over, slicing around her before finding himself in front of Chad. Troy dribbled the ball in his right hand, and passed it to his left as he spun around Chad before easily laying the ball in with his left hand.

Gabriella felt herself staring as she watched Troy seemingly float past both her and Chad before softly laying the ball up. She was brought out of her trance as the ball bounced up into her hands. Gabriella glanced in front of her to see Troy grinning at her, holding his hands out, prepared for her to pass the ball back.

Troy took a few steps forward, dribbling back and forth once again in front of her, enjoying the way she bit her upper lip as she tried to focus. After a few moments, Troy picked the ball up and took a quick jump shot, watching as it sailed straight through.

Chad cursed to himself, retrieving the ball before tossing it back to Troy. Troy grinned and attempted to take a three point shot, groaning as it rimmed in and out. Chad quickly grabbed the rebound, dribbling it back behind the three point line before Troy picked him up on defense.

Seeing Gabriella wide open next to the basket, Chad bounced the ball around Troy to her. Gabriella picked the ball up and looked at it for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"Shoot it Gabs!" Chad called out.

Gabriella turned to face the basket more, and pushed the ball up towards it with both hands, ducking as it bounced off the rim and came right back at her. Troy quickly got the rebound, before setting up for a three pointer behind the line, easily sinking it.

"That's alright Gabs, don't worry about it," Chad tried to encourage her, gently guiding her back to the top of the key to defend Troy.

Ten minutes later, Troy dribbled towards the basket one point away from winning, and easily glided past Chad scoring once again and winning 10-3.

"Good game man," Chad sighed, exchanging a fist pound with Troy before giving Gabriella a high five.

"Thanks, you guys too. So what do you guys wa-," Troy paused as "My heart will go on" by Celine Dion began to play. "Dude is that your phone?" Troy asked, struggling to hold in his laughter.

"Oh crap. That's Tay," Chad muttered, rushing over to grab his cell phone, not noticing the skeptical look Troy was giving him. "Hey babe," Chad answered softly as he picked up the phone, making his way back towards the house.

"I'm guessing he's gonna be awhile," Troy said, turning to Gabriella who nodded.

"Usually is when he's talking to Taylor."

"That's alright. We can hang out while we're waiting for him," Troy offered, sending her a bright smile. "Thanks for playing with us. You did a good job."

"Thanks, I guess." Gabriella said never looking up as she nervously shuffled her feet. "Obviously I can't shoot though."

"It just takes practice," Troy shrugged, grinning as he finally caught her eye. "Here, I'll show you."

"It's okay really," Gabriella protested as Troy went to get the ball that was lying on the grass.

Troy shook his head as he walked back towards her. "Really Gabriella, it's no big deal. We have time anyways, since the two lovebirds will be chatting for awhile."

Troy gently handed Gabriella the ball, before placing his hand on her shoulder and guiding her to face the basket.

"Okay, now it's really simple," Troy instructed her.

Taking a step forward, Troy got right behind her, resting his right hand on her right arm, and his left on her waist, smiling to himself as he felt her shiver slightly under his touch.

"You just place the ball on the tips of your fingers in your right hand," Troy told her, his hand moving up her arm to rest on her right hand, adjusting the ball with his other one. "Then with this hand," Troy said, taking her left hand in his, "you want to place it on the left side of the ball, just for support. Your right hand does the shooting. The left just guides it in. Got it?" Troy asked in her ear, keeping his left hand gently placed over hers, his chest right up against her back.

Too flustered to respond, Gabriella managed to nod her head a couple of times, signaling Troy to continue.

"Okay, and then you want to bend your elbow at a ninety degree angle, so your upper arm is parallel with the ground," Troy said as he trailed his right hand from hers down to her elbow, helping her adjust it. "Great. And when you shoot, you want to shoot from right above your forehead, centering the ball."

Gabriella nodded again as Troy placed her arm in the correct position.

"Now, for the strength," Troy continued, "you need to shoot with your legs as the power source, not your arms. So, bend your knees slightly," Troy trailed his hands down her sides, lightly resting them on her waist and tugging her downwards. "Awesome. Now, bend your knees, and then shoot, releasing the ball at the same time by sort of flicking your wrist towards the basket. Ready?"

"Yeah," Gabriella muttered quietly, trying to remember what Troy had taught her.

"Alright then, shoot it," Troy said before taking a step backwards so as not to crowd her.

Gabriella took a deep breath and then shot the ball, grinning from ear to ear as it hit the backboard and dropped right in.

"See? I told you it was easy!" Troy came around the front of her, gently rubbing her arm as he did so. "Great job!"

"Thank you," Gabriella muttered shyly, blushing as she noticed Troy was beaming at her.

"You're welcome," Troy whispered as he moved closer to her, taking advantage of the fact that he was finally able to spend some time alone with her.

"So who's up for Home Alone 2 and some cookies?" Chad's voice boomed across the backyard, effectively interrupting their moment.

Troy quickly removed his hand from Gabriella's arm, immediately bringing it up to rub the back of his neck.

"Sure, I'm in," Troy called back, smiling before reluctantly turning back to walk towards the house.

"You comin' Gabs?" Chad asked when he noticed she hadn't moved.

"Yeah, sorry," Gabriella apologized, following the two towards the house.

Gabriella took a deep breath as she took a seat next to Chad on the couch, trying to not focus on all of the questions running through her mind. Gabriella knew she had Patrick, but she couldn't help but wonder what Troy thought of her.

When he had touched her, she felt butterflies erupt in her stomach, something that never happened with Patrick. Suddenly, Gabriella's world as she knew it was beginning to turn upside down, all due to the black-haired boy who was sitting in the chair next to her with his blue eyes focused on her.


	7. Chapter 7

"Dude I'm serious! We should totally pull a prank like that on someone this year!" Chad exclaimed, stopping the movie before leaning back on the couch.

"Chad, sending a huge tool chest rolling down a flight of stairs and ramming it into someone's face could do some serious damage," Troy protested, a smile on his face as he caught Gabriella's eye.

"Come on man! All that happened was they hurt their noses. It can't be that bad."

"Chad, it's a MOVIE. Of course that's all that happened. Guaranteed we do that, and it'll not only cause physical damage, but our parents would kill us."

"Party pooper," Chad muttered under his breath, causing Gabriella to giggle beside him. Chad pulled his phone out as it beeped, looking down at it as a huge grin erupted on his face. "Speaking of parties, who's up for one tonight?"

"Where at?" Troy asked.

"Zeke's. He and Jason have a house near the college, and they're having a big party tonight. You guys in?"

"Sure," Troy said excitedly. "I haven't seen those guys in a few months."

"Sweet! And Taylor's coming in tonight. This is gonna be awesome!"

Troy nodded, his eyes drifting to Gabriella who was sitting there looking extremely nervous. Chad followed Troy's eyes and immediately noticed Gabriella's demeanor.

"Gabs, you okay?" Gabriella turned towards him and nodded apprehensively. "Okay good. So, you want to go with us tonight?"

Troy watched as Gabriella nervously played with her fingers, not making eye contact with either of them.

"Come on Gabs, it'll be fun. You can meet some of my other friends from high school, and you can meet Taylor," Chad persisted.

"I don't know Chad. I can just stay at your place and read or something," Gabriella said softly.

"Gabs, I'm not gonna have you sit alone all night."

"I don't know anyone though. It'll be awkward," Gabriella continued, doing her best to get out of it.

"That's crazy," Chad argued back. "You'll know me, and you know Troy," Gabriella looked up to see Troy smiling encouragingly at her, her eyes immediately shifting back to her lap in embarrassment. "And you'll meet Tay and some of the others. Trust me, you and Tay will get along great."

"I don't know," Gabriella muttered again.

"Please Gabs? Consider it your Christmas gift to me," Chad protested, flashing her a big smile.

"What time?" Gabriella asked, reluctantly caving in.

"Yes!" Chad exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air before wrapping his arm around Gabriella and pulling her into a hug. "Thanks Gabs! Party starts at 8:00. But I have to pick up Tay first from the airport. Troy, can you take Gabs and we'll meet you guys there?"

"Sure man," Troy agreed, smiling at the prospect of being alone with Gabriella for a little while that evening.

"Alright well," Chad began as he glanced at the time. "It's 6:00. So Gabs and I will head back to my place and grab some dinner before getting ready."

"Sounds good. Better hope all those girls are gone," Troy said with a smirk.

"Shut-up man," Chad replied quickly. "You ready Gabs?" Chad asked, turning to Gabriella as he stood up from the couch.

"Yeah," Gabriella said softly, standing up beside Chad.

"See you guys tonight," Troy said as he led them towards the front door. "I'll pick you up at 8:00?" Troy asked Gabriella, laying his hand softly on her shoulder.

"Um, yeah…that works," Gabriella responded, her cheeks flushing as the two made eye contact.

"Okay, bye."

Gabriella looked down at her feet, muttering a goodbye under her breath causing Troy to smile even more.

"Later man," Chad said, pounding fists with Troy before heading back towards his house with a very nervous Gabriella in tow.

---

Gabriella nervously fiddled with her dark blue V-neck sweater as she looked in the mirror. She glanced at the clock, noticing it was 7:45. She still had fifteen minutes before Troy would arrive, the thought scaring her to death. She couldn't remember the last time she was this nervous.

Realizing she had a few minutes to spare, Gabriella pulled out her cell phone and dialed a familiar number, waiting patiently as she heard the dial tone.

"Hello, Patrick speaking."

"Hey Patrick! You know you can answer the phone in a more casual way," Gabriella teased, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend.

"Gabriella, I refuse to speak improperly when I answer the phone. You know that. You always need to be prepared to answer the phone in a proper manner, in case it's someone very important calling," Patrick stated, in a matter of fact tone.

"Okay Patrick," Gabriella conceded, not bothering to argue. "Anyways, how are you?"

"I'm good. We're making a lot of progress."

"That's good. How far along are you guys in your research?" Gabriella asked, hoping that just maybe this conversation would last longer than some of their other recent ones.

"We have a decent amount finished," he replied shortly.

"That's good. Are you enjoying it?"

"Yeah. Listen Gabriella, I need to get back to the lab. Can we talk later on?"

"Yeah. Okay, have fun. I miss you," Gabriella admitted softly.

"Okay. Bye."

Gabriella felt tears prick the corner of her eyes as she heard his phone click off. He had successfully ignored her once more, not even sacrificing five minutes to catch up with her—his girlfriend that he hadn't seen in almost four months. On top of that, Gabriella didn't miss the fact that he never asked how she was doing, or that he didn't say that he missed her when she made her confession.

Hearing the doorbell ring downstairs, Gabriella quickly brushed the tears away from her eyes, grabbing her coat and purse before making her way downstairs.

She opened the door to see Troy standing there, leaning against the doorframe. He was dressed in blue jeans and white converses, along with a black long-sleeved collared shirt rolled up to his elbows, the top few buttons left undone to reveal his white wifebeater underneath. Gabriella's eyes trailed up to his face to see his black hair spiked up into a fauxhawk. Taking a quick intake of breath, Gabriella couldn't miss catching the smell of his wonderful cologne, and suddenly she felt even more nervous as she gazed at the man in front of her.

"You look great," Troy complimented her in her dark skinny jeans and blue sweater, causing a blush to yet again appear on her cheeks. Troy smiled at her, realizing it was his new favorite thing to see that blush tinting her cheeks.

"Thanks. You too," Gabriella muttered shyly, realizing this was the first time another guy had complimented her appearance in awhile. She couldn't remember the last time Patrick had told her she was beautiful. Gabriella hurriedly brushed a stray tear that threatened to fall out of the corner of her eye at this thought.

"You ready?" Troy asked, noticing that she looked as if she'd been crying, but deciding to wait to talk about it until later.

Gabriella nodded and went to slip her coat on, smiling as Troy stepped inside and held it out for her so she could easily slip her arms through. After putting it on her, Troy let his hands linger on her shoulders, before allowing his fingers to trail lightly down her arms, smirking when he felt her shiver under his touch.

"Alright, let's go." Troy opened the door for her and led her out to his truck, being sure to open the truck door for her and helping her in, before running around to the driver's seat.

Troy hopped in the truck and started it up, glancing to his right to see Gabriella staring off out the window, a few tears on the brim of her eyelid, threatening to fall.

After pulling out of the driveway and heading down the street on the short drive towards Zeke and Jason's place, Troy decided to try and figure out what was bothering her.

"Hey, you alright?" Troy asked, startling Gabriella who turned to face forwards, nodding her head gently. "You seemed like something was upsetting you earlier."

"Everything's fine," Gabriella murmured under her breath, not wanting to share her personal relationship problems with Troy.

"Okay," Troy sighed, trying to figure out some other way to get her to open up to him. "So where are you from again?"

"New York," Gabriella answered quickly.

"That where you went to high school?"

"Yeah, all four years," Gabriella replied, a hint of nervousness in her voice as she wasn't used to talking this much with guys other than her roommates or Patrick.

"So what made you choose Stanford? Why not stay on the East Coast and live close to home?"

"Well, I could have gone to Yale with Patrick, but I got a scholarship at Stanford. And plus, Stanford has always been my dream school."

"How long have you two been together?"

"Almost four years," Gabriella told him, thoughts of her relationship with Patrick flooding her mind.

"Wow, that's a long time. You guys must be pretty serious," Troy commented, not missing the look on Gabriella's face that hinted he was wrong. "Is he going home for Christmas break?"

"No, he's working in the lab for most of the break, which is partly why I'm out here with Chad. That and the fact that my mom has work, and won't be around," she added sadly.

"He's working in the lab all of his winter break?" Gabriella nodded. "Sounds like a fun time," Troy muttered sarcastically, grinning as he saw her lips twitch up into a small smile.

"Well, all I will say is if he decided to spend three weeks in a lab instead of with a beautiful girl like you, he has something wrong with him," Troy told her sincerely, her heart racing at his words, as they parked alongside the curb, a few houses down from their destination.

Troy quickly got out of the truck and rushed around to the other side, opening Gabriella's door and extending his hand towards her. A shy grin made its way onto her face as she placed her small hand inside of his, allowing him to help her up out of the truck.

"Thanks," Gabriella said as she stood beside him on the curb.

"No problem," Troy winked at her, his favorite blush appearing on her face as he shut the door and began to lead her towards the house, his hand on her lower back the whole way.

As soon as they stepped into the house, they were met with a house full of crazed college kids, some dancing, some watching a football game on TV, and others sitting around talking, almost all of them with a cup filled with alcohol in hand.

Troy led Gabriella through the house, towards the backyard where he knew Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Jason, and the others were all located, using the party as an excuse to wrap his arm around Gabriella's waist so he wouldn't lose her in the crowd.

Finally they stepped outside, Gabriella sighing in relief to be away from most of the party goers.

"Hey Hoops!"Chad called out from his spot on the lounge chair, waving with one hand while the other was wrapped around Taylor's shoulders.

Troy waved back before leading Gabriella towards the small group gathered around a bonfire in the backyard.

"Hey guys, how's it goin?" Troy greeted each of the guys, giving them all a fist pound and a hug.

"Hey Taylor," Troy greeted when he got around to her, leaning down to give her a hug. "How was the flight? No delays?"

"Well if you don't count Chad standing outside of Gate H when I clearly said Gate A, then the answer is yes."

"Hey! 'H' can sound like 'A', alright? Blame it on the cell phone reception," Chad defended.

"Fine Chad, we'll give you that. But the flight from Gate H was coming in from Argentina, not from Connecticut."

"Whatever you win," Chad admitted defeat causing the guys to all erupt in laughter.

As the laughter died down, Troy glanced to his left, noticing Gabriella standing there awkwardly, glancing around the backyard. Troy caught Chad's eye and motioned with his head towards Gabriella, signaling for Chad to introduce her.

"Oh right," Chad said suddenly, his hand slapping his forehead. "Everyone, this is my roommate, Gabriella," Chad introduced, placing his arm around her shoulders. "Gabs, this is Taylor, Zeke, and Jason."

"Hey everyone. Nice to meet you," Gabriella said, waving to them all, a nervous smile on her face.

"You too," they all chorused.

"So Gabriella," Jason began, "tell us how you can possibly live in the same apartment as Chad here. What possessed you to do that?"

"Sometimes I wonder the same thing," Gabriella joked, looking at Chad and giggling as she saw him feign a look of hurt.

"Well, I'm glad she's Chad's roommate," Taylor spoke up, standing next to Gabriella. "Who knows where Chad would end up without someone watching out for him?"

"Thanks babe," Chad muttered sarcastically.

"Anytime," Taylor grinned back at her boyfriend before turning her attention back to Gabriella. "How about we go and get something to drink, while these guys sit out here and talk basketball, which I know they're all dying to do."

"Sounds good," Gabriella giggled before following Taylor towards the backdoor.

Once inside, Gabriella and Taylor went to the kitchen, each grabbing a bottle of water before taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"So tell me Gabriella," Taylor began. "How is it really to live with Chad? We both know how much of a pain he can be."

"He can be," Gabriella admitted with a laugh. "But he's a lot of fun to be around too. At this point last year, I'd never thought I'd have three guys for roommates, one of which is my best friend. But now, I wouldn't trade it. Living with Chad is by far one of the strangest, yet best decisions I've made. We all have so much fun together."

"That's great Gabriella. You know, I couldn't wait to meet you today. I know we've heard a lot about each other, but there's something about finally meeting that person. Chad talks so much about you, and I know that you mean so much to him as a friend."

"Thank you Taylor. Just so you know, he talks about you all the time too. It's really funny how mushy he can get sometimes, and then at other times be completely serious or hilarious. Like, he's always claiming that you threatened the school to let him in at Stanford. He's convinced you had something to do with him getting in there."

Taylor laughed, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's thoughts.

"It's true," Chad exclaimed, jumping into the conversation as he walked towards them, standing behind Taylor's chair and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Someone must have done something. There's no way I should be at Stanford."

"Chad, you know you deserve to be there. You got a basketball scholarship, and you and I both know you got excellent grades in high school. As we all know, you may seem like a dumb jock at times, but that's far from who you really are."

"Thanks babe," Chad said sincerely. Taylor smiled up at Chad, who was looking down at her, a bright smile on his own face. "You want to dance?" Chad offered, smiling even more as she stood up and took his hand.

"Will you be alright Gabs?" Chad asked as he laced his fingers through Taylor's.

"Yeah, go on," Gabriella encouraged, smiling as the two walked off hand-in-hand, grins erupting on their faces.

Gabriella sat at the kitchen table, twirling the bottle of water around, suddenly feeling very alone and out of place. Slowly getting up, she made her way down the hall, hoping to make an escape to the fresh air outside.

She gasped as she felt someone grab her arm, pushing her up into the wall behind her.

"Hey baby, I don't think I've ever seen you before," Gabriella grimaced at the obviously drunk guy, the smell of his breath in her face making her want to throw up. "How about you come with me and I'll show you a good time?"

"How about you get your hands off of her, and you leave here in one piece?" Gabriella glanced over the guy's shoulder to see Troy standing there, his eyes darkening as he glared at the guy in front of her.

Troy reached his hand out, grabbing hold of the drunk guy, and tossing him off of Gabriella, hearing the guy's back smash into the wall.

"You alright?" Troy asked Gabriella, stepping closer and letting his hand trail soothingly up and down her arm.

"Yeah I'm fine," Gabriella said softly, still slightly in shock realizing what could have happened if Troy hadn't been there. "Thank you," Gabriella added shyly.

"You're welcome," Troy grinned, before glancing over his shoulder to see the guy now sitting on the floor, knocked out from a combination of the contact with the wall and all the alcohol in his system. "You want a drink or anything? A bunch of us are just sitting around outside. You want to join?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No, actually I think I am just going to go outside, maybe make a phone call."

Troy nodded, letting his hand fall from her forearm and placing it on the wall above her head. "Okay, well try and stay safe alright?" Troy asked, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

Gabriella grinned nervously, feeling the strange sensation of butterflies in her stomach once more. She nodded before ducking under his arm, making her way outside, hoping she could finally talk to Patrick and hoping the time would pass quickly so she could make it back to the safety of Chad's house.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Just wanted to say we appreciate reading all of your reviews. Some of them are making us laugh because they are very entertaining. So keep them coming. We hope you continue to enjoy this story that will keep being updated everyday until Christmas. Anyways, enough blabbering on my part. Enjoy! **

* * *

All I Want

"You alright, man?" Chad asked as Troy came back outside, his blue eyes darkened in obvious anger as he sat down rigidly in the chair next to his best friend.

"Fucking Brett Matthews was hitting on Gabriella," Troy seethed.

"Are you serious? What'd he do? Gabi's okay, isn't she?" Chad spluttered, feeling like he shouldn't have left her alone in crowds of people she didn't know.

"Yeah I told him to fuck off, and she went to ring someone on her phone. Probably Patrick," Troy pointed in the direction where Gabriella was leaning up against the side of the house, her cell phone pressed to her ear, her dark curls curtaining her face.

Chad and Troy watched as Gabriella's body tensed up, as if she was arguing with someone before she turned and headed back inside.

"I'm gunna go find her, see if she's okay," Chad announced, turning to speak to Taylor. "Baby, I'll be back, I just have to go find Gabriella, alright?"

Taylor nodded her acceptance before turning her attention back to Zeke and Jason who she was chatting to. Troy made to stand up to follow Chad but Chad shook his head, no.

"Just give her some space, if she's had a fight with Patrick the last thing she needs is you flirting it up with her," Chad said with another shake of his head. "I'll bring her back out here."

Troy watched as Chad walked away, desperately wanting to be the one to comfort Gabriella, to make her laugh and forget whatever was bothering her.

"Troy?" Taylor's voice rung through his head.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? Did something happen to Gabriella?" Taylor asked.

"I dunno," Troy shrugged his shoulders, not moving his gaze from his lap where he was fiddling with his fingers nervously. "Chad went to find her, not me."

The dejection in his voice was obvious and Taylor raised her eyebrows at his reply, turning to Jason and Zeke who each had identical looks of confusion on their faces and she made a note to talk to Chad later about what was going on between Troy and Gabriella.

Meanwhile Chad had found Gabriella wandering aimlessly through the house, her eyes red rimmed.

"Gabi!" He called out, holding out his arms to her as she turned to face him.

Gabriella allowed him to hug her, feeling her tears build up again as he hugged her tightly.

"What happened?" Chad asked soothingly, as he dropped his arm to her waist, leading her to a quieter part of the house so they could talk without having to yell.

"Patrick. Every time I call him he's too busy to talk and he…." Gabriella trailed off, not wanting to admit to Chad what she was beginning to think, that she wasn't top priority to Patrick anymore.

"He what, Gab?" Chad prompted.

"Nothing Chad, it's okay. Let's go find Taylor and the others," Gabriella ended the conversation, standing up and waiting for Chad to follow her lead back through the house to the backyard where his friends were all assembled, minus Troy.

---

Gabriella leaned up against the wall, feeling just a bit out of place. She felt as if she was intruding on this intimate moment of friends reuniting after months of not seeing each other. She was stripped from her thoughts when she felt a hand land on her shoulder causing her to jump from surprise. She turned to see Troy standing there with a scared look on his face.

"Troy what-"

"Pretend like you're talking to me." He said frantically.

"Troy what's going on-"

"Troy!" a voice was heard calling out from across the backyard.

Troy groaned plastering on the biggest fake smile he could muster before turning around, "Shar. How are you?"

Gabriella watched as a beautiful girl with blonde hair pulled Troy into a hug, "I'm fabulous. I'm going to NYU and I'm president of the drama club up there."

"Of course you are." Gabriella heard Troy mutter under his breath causing her to stifle a giggle. Troy turned to glance at Gabriella shooting her smile before turning back to Sharpay, "That's amazing."

"I know." She stated with a shrug.

Troy's hand went behind him waving around as if searching for something. Gabriella looked down curiously before his hand smacked hers and clamped onto it for dear life before tugging her beside him.

"Have you met Gabriella? Chad's roommate?" Gabriella glared at Troy as she realized what he was doing. He was using her as a deflecting mechanism so he wouldn't have to deal with the blonde.

A well manicured hand shot out in front of her, "Hi. I'm Sharpay Evans. My parent's own Lava Springs."

Gabriella felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she shook her hand, "Gabriella Montez."

"Well I was just about to show Gabriella around this place, so I'll see you later Shar." Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand and dragged her outside onto the patio.

"Wow, she's a little…" Gabriella muttered as Troy and her escaped outside.

"Overbearing? Yes, that's Sharpay in a nutshell. I didn't know she'd be here tonight. She's been following me around since the third grade," Troy informed her, quickly checking over his shoulder to make sure Sharpay was nowhere nearby.

"The _third grade_?" Gabriella gasped. "She's keen."

"Well, who can blame her? I mean look at me?" Troy teased, realizing that neither of them had released the other's hand.

"You're so modest," Gabriella giggled, unable to stop herself from playing along with Troy's lightheartedness.

"Why thank you," Troy winked. "But don't tell me a girl as pretty as you has never had a personal stalker?"

"Well, there was Bobby Jones in the fifth grade," Gabriella replied, her nose screwing up at the memory of the lanky boy who had followed her home every day for almost the entire year.

"See, look how similar we are. We're both obviously awesome people," Troy was pleased that Gabriella was for once talking freely to him, laughing at what he said, her eyes lighting up as she did so.

"Speak for yourself," Gabriella retorted, subconsciously searching for compliments.

Suddenly the conversation turned serious as Troy tugged her slightly closer, his hand reaching up until his thumb stroked the side of her face gently.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short. You are awesome," Troy said softly, his blue eyes boring into Gabriella's deep browns.

"Troy," Gabriella whispered, leaning into his hand, loving the way his touch was so sure and confident, but at the same time soft and gentle.

"Gabriella! Troy!" Called Chad, "Taylor wants to go home, are you two coming with?"

Gabriella quickly jumped away from Troy, her skin on fire where his hand had been seconds before. Troy couldn't help but notice her breasts rising and falling quickly with her erratic breathing, being amazed at the effect he had on her, and how much the simple body movement was turning him on.

"Guys?" Chad's voice came again, making the pair spin on their heels to face their friend.

"Uh yeah, we'll come. Ella, do you want to ride with me? Give the love birds some space?" Troy offered, wanting to spend just a few more minutes alone with Gabriella.

"Okay," Gabriella replied softly. "I just have to go and get my coat."

"I'll meet you at the front door in a few minutes," Troy replied, both already forgetting about Chad who just rolled his eyes and went to find Taylor.

Troy smiled as he saw Gabriella walk towards him a few minutes later, her eyes connecting with Troy's briefly before she nervously looked down at her feet.

Troy placed his hand on her back as she stopped in front of him and led her out to his truck.

"So I hope that wasn't too unbearable for you," Troy said playfully as he opened her door, taking her arm gently in his hand as he helped her get in.

"It was fine," Gabriella said breathlessly, her arm tingling where Troy's hand was.

Troy smiled at her, gently shutting her door before rushing around to the driver's seat.

"Thanks for driving me home," Gabriella said softly.

"No problem," Troy grinned at her, smoothly placing his hand behind her seat as he backed the truck up a few feet before pulling out on the street. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Gabriella shifted her eyes from looking out the window and glanced over at Troy, nodding slightly. "Sure."

"How come you didn't go back to New York for Christmas? You said your mom had to work?"

"Yeah," Gabriella sighed, slightly uncomfortable. "She was supposed to be at home, but she got called away on business. She's in Europe for the next few weeks."

"Oh, I'm sorry. That must be tough," Troy said, unsure of what to say to her.

Gabriella shrugged. "It's okay. Not your fault. I just wish I could see her, you know?" Gabriella asked, as Troy nodded in understanding. "And, I miss Christmas in New York. Every year, our neighborhood gets really into the Christmas spirit. There are contests over Christmas lights, snowmen, gingerbread man hunts for the kids…it's all a fun tradition. But mostly, I just miss my mom. It's been months since I've last seen her, and now I probably won't see her till spring break or even summer."

Troy watched as Gabriella blinked her eyes quickly a few times to fight back tears, turning to gaze out the window once more. As Troy listened to her talk, he couldn't imagine what she was going through. Not only did she hardly ever see her family and her friends back home, but now she wouldn't see them for months. Suddenly, Troy flicked on his blinker, slowing the truck down a bit.

"Hey, do you mind if we take a quick detour?" Troy asked, glancing at Gabriella as her eyes shifted to him and she gently shook her head. "Great," Troy said, sending her a wide smile.

Troy took a right at the next street and began to head in a different direction than home. He felt some nerves building in his stomach. Hearing Gabriella talk about her Christmas experience at home had sparked an idea, and Troy hoped it would cheer her up.

"So, I know it's not New York," Troy began as he flicked on his blinker and drove down a familiar street to him. "But hopefully it measures up," Troy added with a smile.

Gabriella's eyes lit up as they drove down the street, reflecting the numerous lights on the houses that lined the street. Christmas carols were playing from a loudspeaker, lights were blinking, and all sorts of Christmas characters were lit up on various roofs and lawns.

"We have decorating contests here too. This street always has the most intense participation though. We drive down this street every year, and every year they step it up a notch."

"This is amazing," Gabriella breathed out, looking at all of the houses in fascination. "It definitely reminds me of back home. Sadly, our house usually looks like that one there," Gabriella said, pointing towards a house that had a few strings of lights hung along the edges, a few large candy canes stuck in the lawn, and a wreath on the door. The house stuck out, but not in a good way as far as the street was concerned. "We always make the attempt, but Mom and I can't ever decorate like crazy as everyone else does. We're both too scared to get up on the roof and hang the lights," she added with a smile.

"Well, points for effort," Troy chuckled, relishing in the thought that he had put that smile on her face.

"Yeah, I guess," Gabriella giggled, her eyes still scanning the various houses on the street. "Wow," Gabriella muttered under her breath, her eyes on a house at the end of the street that by far had outdone any of the others.

Troy grinned, before pulling along side of the curb and putting the truck in park. "Yeah, this house wins every year, as you can tell," Troy said, referring to the house that had the lights synchronized to the music, a large lit up star extending about ten feet above the rooftop.

"Yeah, I can see why," Gabriella said softly, her eyes still looking at the house in amazement.

"Come on," Troy said, pulling the keys out of the ignition, and rushing around to open her door. "You have to get closer to appreciate it fully."

Troy extended his hand to her, smiling as she timidly placed her hand inside of his. After helping her out of the truck once more, Troy released her hand, putting his in his pockets as they walked down the street.

Gabriella couldn't believe her eyes as they got closer. The decorations from the house had actually extended into the neighbors' yards on both sides. One neighbor had a train set up in the front yard, lit up with a Santa Clause driving it. The other neighbor had at least twenty different inflatable snowmen and reindeer all it up. And the lights stretched from the neighbors' house on the left all the way to the one on the right.

'Deck the Halls' was playing in the background, as the lights changed colors and lit up in time with the beat, creating a very extravagant lights show. Gabriella's eyes scanned the front yard in amazement, seeing a large sleigh with fake reindeer, an igloo with some snowmen, and at least three decorated Christmas trees, all lit up.

Troy's eyes shifted from the house to the brunette beside him that was completely in awe, with the brightest smile on her face that he'd seen yet. Troy watched as her eyes danced across the yards, following the lights that moved in synchronization to the music.

Seeing her shiver slightly, Troy stepped closer, placing one arm around her shoulder and slowly rubbing his hand up and down her arm, in attempts to keep her warm. Troy chuckled to himself as he heard her take a sharp intake of breath at the contact before shivering once more, this time because of the sensations Troy was evoking.

Troy turned his eyes back to the house as a new song began to play, trying to look like he was interested in the show, when in reality he kept sneaking glances at Gabriella out of the corner of his eye.

"You know," Troy whispered, bringing his mouth closer to Gabriella's ear, "I'd hate to be the one paying their electric bill," he joked, smiling as he heard her soft giggles.

"Yeah, I wouldn't even want to know how much this is costing them." Gabriella cocked her head up towards Troy, finally taking her eyes off of the scene in front of her. "Thanks for this Troy. It means a lot to me."

Troy smiled widely, elated at her words. "No problem," he winked at her, loving the bright red blush that formed on her cheeks.

Both of them slowly shifted their eyes back towards the house in front of them, yet Troy couldn't help but continue to watch her reactions out of the corner of his eye. He also couldn't stop smiling at the thought that his arm was still looped around her shoulders, as she rested comfortably against his side.

"I should get you back before Chad thinks I've kidnapped you and ravished you or something," Troy joked after a few more minutes, looking down at Gabriella as she looked up at him, their lips almost touching.

Gabriella quickly turned her head back to look at the lit up house, embarrassed at how close she had just been to Troy's lips.

"Now Gabriella, I can't help but notice that you're awfully shy around me," Troy teased. "I'm a likable guy, aren't I?"

Gabriella nodded her head, thinking to herself that he was likable in more than one way, though she wasn't ready to accept that she could have feelings for the blue eyed boy whose arm was around her shoulder.

"Good, I was beginning to think you were only tolerating me because of Chad," his arm dropped slowly, his hand running down the length of her arm and then his fingers flitted across her lower back until his hand rested in the middle. "Let's get going?"

Again Gabriella could only manage a nod, allowing Troy to guide her back to his truck, helping her in once more, closing her eyes for a few seconds to regain her composure as he crossed to the other side of the truck.

"I had fun tonight," Troy said as they started the drive home.

"Me too," Gabriella managed to get out, stealing a glance at Troy when she was fairly sure he was watching the road. His blue eyes glistened in the moonlight which also cast a shadow over his face, making his tanned skin seem darker than normal. His lips were parted slightly and Gabriella couldn't help but think about how his lips would feel under her own.

Troy felt her stare on him and turned to shoot her a megawatt smile, causing her to blush and turn her head to look out the window.

It wasn't long before they were back home and Troy got out of his truck to help Gabriella out, leaving their hands joint as he walked her next door to Chad's and up his pathway.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Troy asked, and Gabriella nodded, going to speak before she heard a loud shriek from inside the house followed by the unmistakable sound of a teenage girl letting someone know that Troy was at the door.

"I'm gonna go before they, you know, do their squealing thing," Troy laughed. Unable to help himself, he brushed his lips against her cheek before taking a step back, winking at her and jumping the fence between the two properties, turning to wave at Gabriella once more before he disappeared into his house.

Taking a deep breath Gabriella turned the door handle and let herself into the house, knowing that Chad would be waiting inside for her, wanting to know why Troy took so long to bring her home.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Thanks for the reviews last chapter. It means a lot to us that everyone is enjoying this. Here is chapter 9. Enjoy!**

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All I Want

Gabriella felt like her cheeks were on fire, warmth radiating from them due to the bright red blush currently covering them. As she shut the door, Gabriella leaned back against it, a grin tugging at her lips as she reached up and touched the spot where Troy's lips just were.

Letting out a brief sigh, Gabriella was snapped out of her daze as she heard footsteps coming towards her.

"Was that Troy?" Shannon asked, giddy with excitement.

"Yeah, he gave me a ride home," Gabriella told her, unable to stop the content smile from forming on her face at the thought of how sweet Troy had been to her that night.

"Oh my gosh! You are SO lucky!" Shannon gushed. "What I wouldn't give to spend just a few minutes alone with Troy. He's so hot."

"Yeah," Gabriella said with an uncomfortable smile, attempting to avoid the conversation.

"Is he still here? Is he coming back?"

Gabriella shook her head, suddenly feeling thankful that she wasn't Troy and that she didn't have to deal with teenage admirers. "No, he went home."

Shannon's face fell, disappointment seeping through. "Damn, I wanted to see him. I bet he looked so hot all dressed up for the party."

"Shannon, stop drooling over Troy and leave Gabriella alone," Chad said as he walked in from the kitchen, eating a handful of candy.

Shannon put her hands on her hips turning to face Chad, "You're no fun. I was just asking how her night was."

"You were badgering her about Troy, don't lie to me," Chad corrected her, a knowing look on his face. "Now like I said, leave Gabriella alone."

"Fine," Shannon conceded with a pout before heading up the stairs towards her room.

"Sorry about that," Chad apologized. "Really, just tell her to leave you alone next time."

"It wasn't a big deal," Gabriella shrugged, finally pushing herself off the door and following Chad into the kitchen.

"So what happened to you guys?" Chad asked curiously as he pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table, scooting the bowl of Christmas candy closer to himself. "You left before us I thought."

"Yeah, um," Gabriella trailed off nervously, "we ended up going to look at Christmas lights actually."

"Oh yeah? The contest down on Whitewood?" Chad asked, pulling out the chair next to him and signaling for Gabriella to sit down.

"I guess so," Gabriella said uncertainly as she sat down.

"Probably was," Chad helped. "The one with the house synchronized to the music that looks like it took months to set up?"

"Yep, that's the one."

"That's cool that Troy took you there to see it. We always go every year…usually a few times a year."

"Yeah, it was. It was nice of him to take me there. I was telling him how I miss Christmas at home on the drive back, and then suddenly he veered off and took me over there," Gabriella said, a grin forming on her face and butterflies filling her stomach at the memories.

Chad noticed the corners of Gabriella's mouth tugged into a smile and her far off look, and suddenly felt the need to speak up.

"Listen Gabs," he began, getting her attention, "Troy's my best friend. I've known him since we were kids. I've seen how he is when we were growing up, and don't get me wrong, he's a really nice guy. But as your best friend, I also want to make sure you understand how he is."

"Chad, there's no need to worry about this," Gabriella said, quickly understanding where the conversation was headed. "I have Patrick, and I love him. And like you said, I'm not Troy's type anyways."

"Yeah I said that," Chad continued, "but Troy is interested in you. I can tell." Gabriella felt butterflies surface again at Chad's words, but she quickly dismissed any thoughts that she ever had a chance with Troy.

"I don't think so Chad. He wouldn't be interested in me," Gabriella said, brushing it off.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short Gabs. You are a great girl. But I just want you to know about Troy, because I don't want to see you get hurt," Chad said, smiling genuinely at her.

"Thanks Chad," Gabriella responded, patting his forearm in a friendly gesture.

"So did you have fun tonight?"

"Sort of. The party wasn't that fun for me; it was a little awkward honestly. But I did enjoy hanging out with Troy afterwards. Your friends are really nice though. And Taylor is really sweet and very pretty. I see why you like her so much," Gabriella grinned at him, nudging his elbow with hers.

"Yeah, she's great," Chad sighed, a lovestruck look on his face.

Gabriella shook her head in amusement and let a yawn escape. "Well, I think I'm going to go to sleep. I'm pretty tired."

"Alright," Chad said, standing up with her and pulling her into a side hug. "Have a good night."

"You too," Gabriella responded, pushing her chair back in and heading towards the stairs.

"Oh hey Gabs," Chad called out, prompting her to turn around. "You up for a little snow tomorrow?"

"Snow? Here?" Gabriella asked, thoroughly confused since there had been absolutely none so far.

"Well, not like that," Chad laughed. "There's this place downtown that brings in truckloads of snow each year for everyone to play in. We usually go every year. It'll probably be me, you, Tay, and Troy. You up for it?"

"Sure! Sounds like fun!" Gabriella said, ignoring the way her heart fluttered at the thought of spending another day with Troy. "Night Chad."

"See you tomorrow Gabs."

Gabriella quickly changed into her pajamas before snuggling in bed. Glancing at her cell phone, she frowned when she saw that she had no missed calls or texts from Patrick after their last conversation. Attempting to push the hurt aside, Gabriella put her phone down and closed her eyes, her thoughts centered around spending another day hanging out with Troy.

-----

"What do you think Montez?"

Gabriella jumped slightly as a strong arm slipped around her shoulders, turning her head to her left to see Troy standing there, a smile on his face as he looked down at her causing her knees to go weak.

Gabriella tore her eyes away from Troy, gazing around at the local park that was covered in snow, with large piles of it everywhere. There were people of all ages running around—children making snow angels and snowmen while teenagers engaged in snowball fights and the parents gathered near the portable heaters, hot chocolate in hand as Christmas carols blared through the speakers.

"It looks like fun?" Gabriella stated with a questioning tone, causing Troy to chuckle.

"Well, it's nothing like New York, I'm sure. But this is as good as it normally gets for us."

Gabriella felt herself getting lost in Troy's blue eyes that were almost sparkling with excitement as he looked at her. Troy was dressed in a pair of blue jeans, white shoes, a black hoodie, and a black beanie. She knew she'd be lying if she said she wasn't attracted to him.

Gabriella quickly tried to replace the image with one of Patrick, feeling like she was cheating on him for just thinking about Troy this much.

"Chad is so whipped," Troy chuckled, watching as Chad and Taylor walked ahead of them, fingers tightly interlocked.

"Yeah, he really loves her," Gabriella added, watching as Chad leaned down and kissed Taylor on the top of her head.

"Hey, watch this," Troy said, pulling his arm from around Gabriella's shoulders before bending down to the ground. Gabriella looked at Troy slightly confused as he quickly gathered a snowball in hand before standing up and hurling it towards Chad.

Troy and Gabriella both erupted in laughter as the snowball hit Chad right in the back of his afro. Chad reached around, and quickly brushed off the remaining snow, turning around to glare at Troy.

"Hey," Troy said, raising his hands up in defense. "It wasn't me."

Troy grinned and subtly pointed at Gabriella. Gabriella's jaw dropped playfully, as she stared at Troy in disbelief.

"Don't even try that one Bolton. I know it was you. Gabs can't throw that hard," Chad spoke without thinking, grimacing as Taylor smacked his arm. "What?" He turned to her, a questioning look in his eye.

"What did you say Chad?" Gabriella called out.

"Hey, no offense Gabs. I've seen you play ball though. Don't deny it," Chad defended himself.

Troy discreetly kneeled down to the ground once more, gathering another snowball in hand before holding it out to Gabriella.

"Prove him wrong?" Troy suggested and winked at Gabriella, dropping the snowball into her open hands.

Gabriella smiled and brought her hand back, launching the snowball towards Chad, and smiling in satisfaction when it nailed him in the forehead.

"Nice shot!" Troy exclaimed proudly, holding out his hand to give Gabriella a high-five.

Gabriella turned to Troy, the huge smile still painted on her face as she slapped his hand, giving him a high-five.

"You two are dead!" Chad called out, quickly kneeling down to make some snowballs.

"Come on!" Troy yelled out quickly, not even thinking about it as he grabbed her hand in his and pulled her towards some picnic tables. Troy slid on the ground behind the picnic tables, pulling Gabriella with him, before quickly getting up and flipping the table on its side to create a makeshift bunker for them.

Troy tugged on Gabriella's hand, pulling her to sit with him, their backs against the bench. "Quick, make some snowballs," Troy ordered, gathering snow into his hands and quickly forming ten of them.

After finishing, Troy peeked up over the table, seeing Chad's afro about fifty feet across from them, also hidden behind a picnic table.

"Alright, they're still getting ready. How's it coming?" Troy said, somewhat out of breath, looking to see Gabriella had made about fifteen snowballs. "Nicely done!" Troy complimented, patting her on the back.

"Thanks," Gabriella grinned, finishing up a couple more. "So what's our strategy?"

Troy smiled back, thrilled that Gabriella was loosening up around him and getting into the fun. "Well, we'll start out with one of us chucking snowballs, while the other continues to make them. Then we'll switch. After awhile, one of us will have to sneak closer and try to take them out."

"Hey, you guys need any help?"

Gabriella and Troy whipped their heads around to see Zeke slide next to them behind the table.

"Sure man," Troy agreed, pounding fists with Zeke.

"Hey Gabriella," Zeke greeted, sticking out his hand and shaking hers lightly.

"When did you get here?" Troy asked curiously.

"Jason and I just got here. Chad texted us last night and invited us, and we saw you guys throwing snowballs when we first pulled up. Nice shot by the way," Zeke said with a grin towards Gabriella.

"Thanks," she muttered shyly.

"Alright, so new plan," Troy said clapping his hands together. "We'll all start throwing snowballs, Zeke you make more if we run out," Troy instructed. "Then after a few minutes, I'm gonna sneak up on the left, and Ella, you want to go up along the right?"

Troy glanced at Gabriella and saw she was debating it.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Troy offered quickly, not wanting her to be uncomfortable.

"No, it's fine," Gabriella answered. "I'll do it."

"Awesome," Troy smiled at her. "So you go up on the right, you can hide behind that tree there and make a few more snowballs. Put a couple in your sweatshirt pockets and then when I give you the signal from my spot, we'll both rush them. Sound good?"

"Got it," Gabriella grinned at Troy, a smile forming on Troy's face in response.

"Great. Okay, when we get over there, we'll hide behind that building there, and quickly take them out. And Zeke, you can stay back here and protect our fort. You can have our back too, and once you see we're winning, you can come in and join the attack if you want. Everyone got it?"

Zeke and Gabriella both nodded, while all three of them picked up a couple of snowballs.

"Alright, I'll launch the first one," Troy volunteered, peeking over to see Jason looking back from the other side. "They're ready. Here we go."

Troy quickly got up into a crouching position and launched a snowball as hard as he could, watching as it smacked into their picnic table. Troy quickly ducked as a snowball came flying at them, hitting the tree behind them.

Soon, the snowball fight had escalated, Zeke and Troy launching snowballs while Gabriella made them as quickly as she could.

Troy collapsed back down on the ground beside Gabriella, quickly making some more snowballs with her as Zeke continued to throw them.

"Alright, they've slowed down a bit, meaning they're running out. You ready Ella?"

"Yeah, let's do it," Gabriella agreed, gathering a few snowballs.

"Okay, when I say go, run as fast as you can towards that tree over there. Zeke and I will cover for you while you go. Then, I'll take off after you and Zeke will cover for me. After that, I'll signal to you and we'll ambush them, alright?"

"Got it," Gabriella nodded.

The three were soon crouching behind the table, launching a few snowballs as they prepared.

"Ready?" Troy asked Gabriella. "Okay, go!"

Gabriella took off in a sprint towards the tree as Troy and Zeke fired snowballs rapidly towards Chad, Jason, and Taylor. Once she got to her destination, she collapsed behind the tree, giving Troy a thumbs up when he looked at her, before making a few more snowballs.

She watched as Troy sprinted from behind the table, reaching his spot quickly as he collapsed behind a tree. Troy glanced over at her and grinned before making a few snowballs himself, the two waiting as Zeke continued to launch them over at the others.

Troy glanced over at the others, unnoticed, and saw they were scrambling to make more snowballs. He was about to signal Gabriella when he saw Jason leap up and make a run towards their bunker. Zeke pelted him with a snowball quickly though, knocking him out of the competition.

Realizing that it was an opportune moment, Troy glanced at Gabriella and nodded, signaling that it was time. Gabriella nodded back and the two quickly got up, running towards the building.

"Hey! Troy and Gabs are over there!" Chad yelled out, standing up slightly and turning to launch snowballs towards them, ducking as Zeke threw a few more at him. "Dang, they're surrounding us Tay!"

Troy and Gabriella chuckled at the worry in Chad's voice.

"So, we'll go on three, alright?" Troy asked Gabriella, making a few more snowballs and handing them to her.

"Sounds good."

"Okay. 1-2-3!" Troy yelled out, the two ducking around the corner and firing snowballs, quickly hitting Taylor as Chad ducked for cover behind a trashcan.

"You'll never take me alive!" Chad called out dramatically, throwing a few snowballs that didn't come close.

Troy chuckled, and threw a snowball hard at the trash can, laughing as the plastic can shook from the impact.

"Hey, that one would have hurt!" Chad cried out, wildly launching another snowball.

"Watch this," Troy said quietly to Gabriella before tossing a snowball high in the air, laughing as it landed a few inches from Chad. "One more time," Troy said, tossing one high in the air, watching as it landed right on Chad's head.

"Dude! That's cold!" Chad cried out in protest, standing up from behind the trash can.

"It's ice Chad," Troy chuckled. "By the way, we win."

Troy turned towards Gabriella and smoothly swung his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side. "Good job teammate."

"Thanks," Gabriella muttered shyly, smiling at Troy for a few moments.

Suddenly Chad screeched, the two spinning their heads to look towards him and doubling over in laughter as three little boys began launching snowballs at him from a few feet away.

"Hey! Watch the hair!" Chad yelled, covering his head in his arms.

"Chad's getting beat by a couple of eight year olds," Troy said through his laughter.

"Hey! We're not eight!" One of the little boys cried out, turning to face Troy and Gabriella. "We're eleven!"

"Sorry, my bad," Troy managed to say, struggling to hold in his laughter.

"You will be sorry!" The youngster threatened, looking back and nodding at his two friends before they began to launch snowballs at Troy.

Troy quickly grabbed Gabriella's waist, pulling her behind him as he ducked from the oncoming snowballs.

"Run!" Troy said excitedly, gently guiding Gabriella along, the two suddenly falling to the ground as they tripped over a sprinkler, Troy falling on top of Gabriella, pushing her further into the snow.

"Sorry," Troy apologized, sitting up and reaching to help her up, but quickly collapsing on top of her again as the three kids began to pelt them with snowballs. "Okay, okay! We surrender!" Troy cried out, breathing a sigh of relief as they stopped.

"Yeah! We beat the big kids!" They cried out, exchanging high fives before they ran off to brag to all their friends.

"Um, Troy?" Gabriella said softly.

"Yeah?" Troy responded, looking down at her, realization quickly setting in. "Oh right! Sorry," he apologized once more, standing up and brushing the snow off of him before giving Gabriella a hand up.

"Thanks," Gabriella muttered shyly looking up at Troy before shifting her eyes to her feet, brushing off her clothes.

Gabriella glanced back up at Troy once she was finished to see him staring at her, a smile on his face.

"What?" She asked nervously.

"Nothing, it's just," Troy took a step closer, reaching his hand up to her hair and brushing his hand through it. "You had a bunch of snow there."

"Oh, thanks," Gabriella breathed out softly, momentarily forgetting about everything else around her as Troy continued to softly run his hand through her hair.

"Man, those kids killed you!" Chad yelled out, slapping Troy on the back, startling them both as Troy quickly retracted his hand.

"Dude, they got you first. I don't think I've ever heard you scream so loudly, except maybe the time you woke up saw that little caterpillar crawling on you," Troy chuckled, earning a curious look from Gabriella.

"Shut up man! That thing was not little. It was huge and it was orange! You'd scream to!" Chad protested, wrapping his arm around Taylor's waist as she stifled a few giggles, her face hidden in his shoulder.

"Whatever man," Troy laughed. "Anyways, my hands are freezing. Ella, you want to go get some hot chocolate?" Troy asked, turning to face her.

"Sure," Gabriella smiled in response.

Troy grinned and wrapped his arm around Gabriella's waist, before leading her towards the table for hot chocolate.

"They look good together, you know?" Taylor commented, as she snuggled into Chad's side. "He seems to really like her."

Taylor smiled as Troy paid for two hot chocolates, handing one to Gabriella before placing his hand on the small of her back and leading her over towards a table.

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of," Chad muttered.

"How come? I mean, we both know Troy's history with girls, but he seems to be acting differently around her."

"Yeah, I don't really know. But for now, she has a boyfriend, and even though Patrick hasn't been treating her the best, Gabriella will stick by him. So, Troy better not get his hopes up. It's not going anywhere anytime soon," Chad said, leading Taylor towards the hot chocolate table.

"I don't know about that," Taylor added, watching as Troy's and Gabriella's eyes lit up as he chatted happily with Gabriella.

Taylor hadn't known Gabriella for very long, but the look in her eyes was unmistakable. And with the way Troy was smiling at Gabriella, Taylor knew it wouldn't be long before something happened between them.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: The snowball fight seemed to be a hit last chapter. It was fun to write, and we're glad you all liked it. Hopefully you guys like this one too! **

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All I Want

"Knock, knock."

Gabriella looked up from her breakfast to see Troy walking in the front door. She gave him a small smile.

"Hi Troy."

"Hey." Troy came and sat down beside her as she finished up her bowl of cereal, "So I was thinking, since Chad and Taylor haven't seen each other in awhile, why don't me and you go do something today and leave them to themselves?"

Gabriella smiled, "That's a great idea. What did you have in mind?" She stood and brought her bowl to the sink and rinsed it out.

Troy turned in his chair to face her, "It's a surprise. Go get a coat, I'm going to go tell Chad."

Gabriella nodded and disappeared up the stairs as Troy smiled to himself. He couldn't wait to take Gabriella out today.

"Hey man."

Troy looked up to see Chad coming down the stairs, "Yo, I was just about to come see you."

Chad poured himself some coffee and looked at Troy expectantly, "'Bout what?"

"I'm going to take Ella out today so you and Taylor can have some alone time." He winked at Chad with a knowing smile.

Chad's face was expressionless as he put down the cup, "I dunno man. I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"What part of 'she has a boyfriend' don't you understand, Troy? She's not just any other girl, she's really sensitive."

Troy felt a small bit of anger arise out of Chad's words, "I'm not planning on fucking her while we're out Chad. I just wanna take her out and show her a good time while you and Tay get some alone time together."

Chad nodded not wanting to argue, "Fine. If she wants to go she can, but I'm serious Troy. Don't get involved with her, she's happy with Patrick."

Troy was about to say something but noticed Gabriella coming down the stairs, "Oh hey Chad! Me and Troy were just going to go out so you can spend some time with Taylor, is that okay?" She felt the need to ask.

Chad nodded his head and looked straight at Troy, "Yeah it's fine." He pulled Gabriella into a hug, "Have fun and I'll see you guys at dinner."

Gabriella smiled and waved to him as Troy opened the front door for her leading her out. Before Troy closed the door to follow, Chad spoke again, "I'm serious Troy."

Troy nodded his head and fought the urge to roll his eyes as he followed the innocent woman that had captured his attention.

"So you're really not gonna tell me where we're going?" Gabriella asked as Troy placed his hand on her lower back and led her towards his truck.

"You'll just have to wait and find out Ella," Troy said with a cheeky grin, opening the door for her and helping her in.

Twenty minutes later, Troy pulled into a dirt parking lot next to a building with a sign on it that read "Eagle Rider's ATV".

Gabriella glanced at Troy skeptically. "What are we doing out here?"

"Ever ridden an ATV before?" Troy asked, turning in his seat to face her.

Gabriella looked at the hills behind the building, seeing a few people riding four-wheelers on the many trails there, dust flying everywhere.

"You mean one of those?" Gabriella asked nervously, pointing at one in the distance.

"Yeah, one of those," Troy chuckled slightly.

"I've never even seen one of those before, let alone ridden one," Gabriella responded, growing more nervous by the second.

"Well, that is about to change." Troy quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and rushed around, opening her door and helping her out.

"And this is our only option?" Gabriella's shaky voice asked, not letting go of Troy's hand as he closed her door.

"Well, since we don't have sledding as an option, this is our only choice by default," Troy responded sarcastically. "Come on, don't worry," Troy smiled as she gripped her hand more tightly. "Trust me, you're gonna love it."

"That's what you think," Gabriella mumbled, reluctantly following Troy who pulled her towards the front of the building.

---

Troy couldn't help but smile as he saw Gabriella nervously chewing on her bottom lip as she stood beside the ATV he had just rented.

"It's more fun if you actually get on it," Troy told her with a cheeky grin, from his place on the ATV next to hers.

"How about you just go ahead and ride yours, and I'll watch from here?" Gabriella suggested, taking a few steps back.

Troy quickly hopped up off of his ATV and jogged towards her. "No, no, no," Troy said, grabbing her wrist gently and spinning her back around. "Come on, I'll teach you how to ride it. You'll be a pro in no time."

Gabriella eyed the 4-wheeler uncertainly, dragging her feet as Troy pulled her towards it.

"Okay, now hop on," Troy patted the seat of the ATV, smiling encouragingly at Gabriella who tentatively got on being careful not to touch anything.

"Now, before we start it up, you'll need this." Troy grinned at her, taking the helmet hanging off of the handlebar. Troy placed his hand on her chin, turning her head towards him before placing the motorcycle helmet on her head, allowing her to pull it down. "And these," Troy added, grabbing the goggles that were on the other handlebar.

Troy placed the strap around the back of her helmet and pulled the goggles down so they were covering her eyes. "Beautiful," Troy said softly, unable to hide his smile.

"I'm sure," Gabriella mumbled under her breath.

"Okay, now, this one is the gas, and there's your brake," Troy pointed out to her, quickly teaching her the parts of the ATV and how to operate it.

Gabriella listened intently as Troy briefly taught her how to operate the ATV, praying that she'd make it back to Chad's house in one piece.

"Got it?" Troy asked as he finished.

"I think so?" Gabriella stated in more of a question, going over everything in her head once more.

"Don't worry, you'll be safe. I won't let you get hurt, alright?"

"Okay," Gabriella responded, uncertain if he could keep his word.

"Okay then," Troy clapped his hands together, starting it up. "Go for it."

Gabriella nodded reluctantly, placing her hand on the gas, and twisting it, revving the engine a couple of times and suddenly taking off, quickly slamming on the brake after only going a few feet.

She jumped slightly as Troy came up behind her, placing his hand on her back. "Hey, don't worry. Just go a little slower this time alright?"

Gabriella nervously placed her hand back on the gas, twisting it slowly and grinning as she drove a few feet forwards, stopping more smoothly this time.

She tilted her head to the right as she heard another ATV beside her, glancing to see Troy flashing her a thumbs-up.

The two rode around through some of the easy trails along the hills, Troy leading the way as Gabriella followed, quickly picking it up.

After riding for about thirty minutes, Troy pulled up to a stop on an overlook. Gabriella pulled up next to him, quickly removing her helmet and goggles, shaking out her curls which were slightly damp with perspiration from the helmet.

Gabriella looked up at Troy who had a lazy smile tugging on his lips as he watched her.

"That was almost right out of a shampoo commercial," Troy teased before he removed his own goggles and helmet, his dark hair was also slightly damp and it flopped into his eyes.

He reached up a hand to push it away, wiping the sweat from his forehead, which made Gabriella's breath hitch in her throat.

"Water?" Troy asked, taking the backpack off his shoulders and unzipping it, producing two bottles of water, one of which he held out to Gabriella.

"Thanks, you thought of it all, didn't you?" Gabriella said softly as she took the bottle of water, opening it slowly as her eyes fixed on Troy who was drinking his quickly, finishing off the bottle in record time, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth.

"Well, I made the mistake of forgetting to bring water once before, and let me just tell you, that was not the smartest idea," Troy chuckled, tossing the empty bottle back in his bag. "I mean, who comes out to ride in the desert and forgets water?"

Troy smiled as Gabriella erupted in laughter. He couldn't help the smile on his face that was growing wider by the second as he realized just how beautiful she was in that moment. Chad's words of warning came flooding back to his memory, but Troy shook his head, pushing them aside.

Determined to enjoy his time with Gabriella, Troy got up off of his ATV and walked around it towards her.

"I'm glad you were amused by my stupidity," Troy commented wryly before holding his hand out to her. "Come on, I want to show you something."

Gabriella glanced down at his hand momentarily, before placing her small hand inside his, allowing him to help her up off of the ATV. Still grasping her hand in his, Troy pulled her gently to his side and began to walk towards the edge of the overlook.

Troy led them towards a large rock about five feet off the ground sitting near the edge, and before Gabriella even realized it, Troy placed his hands on her waist and lifted her up, setting her on the edge of it before hopping up himself and sitting next to her, their shoulders brushing.

"I give you, the desert," Troy said emphatically, holding his arm out in a sweeping motion before chuckling to himself. "I admit, it'd be a prettier view with some trees or lakes or something a bit more exciting, but out here, this is about as good as it gets."

"I think it's pretty," Gabriella admitted softly, gazing out on the landscape, looking at the different colors of rock along the hillside and seeing the city in the distance.

"Yeah," Troy agreed, finding himself gazing at the girl beside him for a few moments before quickly averting his eyes back to the view in front of him. "I used to come here all the time in high school. Whenever I needed to get away and think, this is one of the spots I'd come to. This was my safe haven."

Gabriella found her eyes drifting towards Troy, suddenly curious about what Troy was like in high school, and what would cause him to need to get away so much. Feeling a newfound sense of boldness, Gabriella asked the question on her mind. "What was it that made you feel the need to get away so much back then?"

Gabriella watched as Troy sighed, his fingers running through his hair. "Having an older brother creates a lot of pressure, and I couldn't always take it. There were the things he did right that I absolutely had to do as well, and then all the mistakes he made that hung over my head as well."

"Like what?"

"Well for starters he was one of the best basketball players in our school's history. And since my dad was the coach of my team, he expected me to not only match, but exceed all that my brother had done. But then, there are the stupid mistakes he made. Like he got way into partying his first semester at college and got in some trouble, his grades slipped, and he had to come home." Troy sighed once again, shaking away those thoughts. "That's just one example. We'll stop there because I didn't bring you up here to depress you."

Gabriella shook her head. "You're not depressing me Troy. It means a lot to me that you'd trust me enough to share all of this."

"Of course. So what about you Ella?" Troy asked, nudging her shoulder with his. "Any safe havens back in New York?"

"The outdoor ice skating rink downtown," Gabriella answered softly, surprised at how comfortable she was with this conversation. "Whenever I need to get away and think, I usually go there."

"You skate?" Troy asked curiously.

"A little bit," she admitted shyly. "But, I don't even have to skate. Sometimes, I just sit on one of the benches to the side and let my mind wander. It's so peaceful and carefree there."

"Well to me, skating would be far from peaceful and carefree. I've only been a couple times, but both times I've spent more time sitting on the ice then skating on it," Troy added jokingly, trying to lighten their conversation.

"You just need a little more practice. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it."

"Maybe we'll have to add that to our list of things to do then this break," Troy suggested. "Along with getting lunch right now, because I am starving," he admitted, his stomach echoing his confession, much to Gabriella's amusement.

"Here," Troy said, standing up and holding out his hand to her. Gabriella smiled and accepted his help up before pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"One second, I need a picture of this to show my mom," Gabriella said, quickly taking a picture of the beautiful view in front of her before closing her phone.

"Hold up, you should show your mom more than just that picture. She needs to see more than just scenery. Here," Troy told her, gently taking the phone from her. "We'll take a picture with the background, okay?"

Gabriella nodded as Troy smiled at her before leaning his head into hers, his arm stretched out in front of him as he snapped the photo. After taking the picture, Troy closed the phone just in time for his stomach to growl again.

"Okay, I think I should get some food in me before my stomach starts a riot. You ready?"

Gabriella nodded before following Troy back to the ATVs, and getting on hers, following Troy's lead back towards the rental station.

---

After eating lunch at a local hamburger place, Troy drove them back home, pulling up into his driveway before jogging around and opening Gabriella's door. With his hand placed gently on her back, Troy led her back down his driveway and over towards Chad's front door.

"So thanks for today Troy," Gabriella said appreciatively. "I had a lot more fun than I thought I would."

"See? I told you it wouldn't be bad. You caught on pretty quick."

"Well, I had a good teacher," Gabriella admitted, blushing as Troy grinned cheekily at her.

Suddenly Gabriella's phone began to ring, halting their conversation. Gabriella pulled her phone out, and Troy watched as a small smile tugged at her lips when she read the caller ID.

"Do you mind if I answer this?" Gabriella asked, not wanting to be rude.

"Nah, it's fine," Troy assured her, his curiosity building as he wondered who would put that smile on her face. "I'll just head inside and talk to Chad."

"Okay, thanks," Gabriella smiled before flipping open her phone. "Hello."

Troy kept walking as Gabriella stopped and began her conversation, but he was still listening as he walked up to the front door.

"Hey Patrick! No, I just can't believe you called. How is everything?"

Troy felt jealousy run through his veins as he heard Gabriella happily chatting with her boyfriend. He knew it shouldn't bug him. Chad had told him that she was dating Patrick. But he had developed the slight hope that maybe they weren't as serious as he thought, and that maybe he had a chance with her. However, the excitement in her voice was telling him otherwise as Troy shook his head and opened the door, hoping to shake his feelings for a few moments.

"Hey man!" Chad greeted as Troy walked into the family room.

"Hey," Troy breathed out, plopping onto the couch and looking out the window, unable to tear his eyes away from Gabriella.

"You guys have fun?"

"Yeah, it was cool. I took her to the ATV park to ride."

"You got Gabs to ride an ATV?" Chad asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Troy nodded.

"And you brought her back alive?"

Troy chuckled. "Of course."

"Where is she?"

"Outside on the phone," Troy told him, his eyes shifting back towards her.

Chad followed Troy's eyes, smiling as he saw Gabriella's eyes light up as she walked back and forth across the front lawn.

"She looks happy. Who's she talking to?"

"Patrick," Troy informed him, the tone of his voice not hiding the jealousy underneath, his eyes still fixed on the girl outside.

"Troy, I told you man," Chad began, only to be interrupted.

"I know, I know Chad. She is happily in love with her boyfriend," Troy repeated in a monotonous tone, his eyes still following the brunette outside.

The words of warning from Chad and the "I told you so's" were still racing through Troy's mind, but Troy realized in that moment that something even louder was drowning that out. The jealousy that seeped through his veins in that moment confirmed what Troy had been suspicious of for a few days now. He was falling for Gabriella, hard and fast.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hey guys, Corri here. Sorry for getting this up so late. Things have been pretty busy, especially since it's finals week for me. Hopefully this slightly longer chapter makes up for it though. Thanks again for all your reviews. Rin, Stacey, and I really enjoy reading them, and some definitely make us laugh. You guys are entertaining with your reviews. Oh, and for those of you who want Troy for Christmas...we talked to Santa, but we can't work that deal....i know...tears. Anyways, without further ado, here's chapter 11!**

* * *

All I Want

Gabriella woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon and French Toast cooking downstairs. She smiled as she recalled her conversation the day before with Patrick. She knew that the two of them had gone through some rough points being so far away from each other, but talking to him the day before reminded her why she loved him.

Ever since they had started dating, they clicked, partly due to the fact that both of them were very much into their studies. Even though the two of them had not being able to talk much for the previous couple of months, Gabriella knew it was for good reason. She loved that Patrick was so committed to his studying and research in the lab, because she knew he had worked hard to get to where he was.

And since they were finally able to talk for a little while, Gabriella was reminded of the sweet guy that lied underneath all of that. She had missed Patrick over the previous few months. The two of them were very close since they had been together for almost four years, and after their conversation, they had fallen right back into how it was before the rough patch of the past few weeks.

Before she could spend much more time thinking about Patrick, Gabriella's stomach growled signaling she should get up and go downstairs to get some food. Sighing, she rolled over and grabbed her phone, flipping it open to look at the time.

She felt a smile immediately tug at her lips as she gazed at the picture from the day before that was now set as her background. Suddenly thoughts of Patrick were pushed to the back of her mind as she gazed at the picture of her and Troy. Troy had his arm wrapped around her shoulder as he took a picture of the two of them, both of them with huge smiles on their faces.

Gabriella felt butterflies once again in her stomach as she realized that Troy's eyes were on her and not on the camera in front of him. Gabriella let her mind wander back to the previous day, recalling how much fun she had with Troy. She didn't understand why a guy like him would ever want to spend so much time with a girl like her, especially since she was so shy. But for some reason he did, and she wasn't going to complain because for the first time since she found out about having to spend Christmas away from her family and friends, Gabriella was glad it turned out that way.

The sound of the bathroom door shutting down the hall shook Gabriella out of her thoughts. Deciding she should head downstairs and eat some of the delicious breakfast that was making her mouth water, Gabriella got up out of bed and quickly got ready.

Ten minutes later, she made her way downstairs, a little nervous as she realized Chad was still sleeping and she would be eating breakfast with his family by herself. Glancing into the kitchen, she saw Mrs. Danforth busily cooking some bacon on the stove, while Jordynn and Madison ate at the kitchen table, and Shannon watched TV in the family room.

Gabriella knocked lightly on the doorframe getting Mrs. Danforth's attention. "Oh, good morning Gabriella! You hungry dear?"

"Starving," Gabriella admitted with a grin. "I woke up to the smell of bacon and French Toast and I knew I needed to get down here before Chad ate it all."

Mrs. Danforth laughed, handing Gabriella a plate. "Well dear, go ahead and eat up then before Chad comes down. I'm surprised he hasn't yet. That boy is normally up within minutes of me cooking bacon."

"I give him five more minutes," Gabriella bet, smiling appreciatively at Mrs. Danforth before taking the plate and loading it with food.

"That sounds like my son."

"I say we go wake him up now," Madison suggested with a sly smile as Gabriella placed her plate down at the table.

"Yeah!" Jordynn agreed, setting her fork down and standing up from the table. Madison soon followed, taking a moment to grab an extra piece of bacon off the plate, before darting towards the stairs.

"Come on Gabriella!" Jordynn called out to an amused Gabriella, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the stairs.

The three girls made their way upstairs, quietly pushing open Chad's door to see him sprawled out on his stomach snoring loudly with his small stuffed dog, Rover, tucked under his arm. Gabriella stifled a laugh and made her way to one side of the bed with Jordynn as Madison went to the other.

Madison held a finger up to her lips signaling for them to be quiet, before taking the piece of bacon and lowering it so it was right in front of Chad's nose. The three quietly giggled as Chad sniffed a few times before mumbling something and moving his head to face the other way.

Madison walked around to the other side next to Gabriella and Jordynn and leaned towards Chad, touching the bacon to his mouth before quickly pulling it away, discreetly handing it to Gabriella who quickly placed it in her pocket. Chad licked his lips, moaning and rubbing his eyes before opening them to see three sets of eyes staring back at him.

"Kitty!" Jordynn said excitedly, hopping on the bed next to him.

"Jordynn," Chad groaned, pulling the pillow over his head and burying his head under it.

"Come on Kitty, get up! You promised mom last night that you'd take us to get a Christmas tree today, remember?" Jordynn wrestled the pillow away from Chad and tossed it on the floor before tugging on his shoulder so he rolled over onto his back.

"Alright, alright," Chad conceded, much to Jordynn and Madison's approval. "Hey, did I smell bacon?" Chad asked, throwing off the blankets and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Well, Mom's cooking some downstairs," Madison replied, trying to hide her telling smile.

"Dang, it must have been my dream. It was so real though. I could smell it, like it was in front of me, and almost taste it."

Gabriella couldn't hold her laughter in any more, and Chad's eyes darted towards her. "Gabs, what do you know?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me Gabs. What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's just, you and Rover looked pretty close there," Gabriella said through her laughter, changing the subject and pointing at the stuffed dog sitting on Chad's pillow.

Chad's eyes quickly averted to the dog next to him, picking it up and tossing it towards Madison. "Madi, how many times do I have to tell you? Keep your stuffed dog out of my room!"

Madison glared at her older brother, hands on her hips. "Don't make me pull out the photo albums with you and Rover Chad."

"Oh, please do," Gabriella laughed, looking towards the younger girl next to her, who had a contemplative look on her face.

"Madi, I think I hear Mom calling you," Chad said hurriedly, attempting to avert the conversation.

"I don't hear her," she protested.

"Madison," Chad said through gritted teeth. "Downstairs, now."

"Fine," she sighed, tossing the stuffed dog towards him. "Here, take Rover back. I wouldn't want you to have another episode like the last time you couldn't find him."

"Out!" Chad yelled at a smirking Madison. The young girl rolled her eyes before grabbing her little sister's arm.

"Come on Jordynn. Chad can get a little testy about Rover. I wouldn't want you to have to deal with it."

Jordynn allowed Madison to pull her towards the door, but stopped before she reached it, looking back at Chad. "We're still going to get the tree right Kitty?" She asked with bright eyes.

"Yeah," Chad said, his mood softening. "Let me just get dressed and eat breakfast alright?"

"Okay, thanks Kitty!" The little girl said cheerfully before heading downstairs with her older sister.

"I really have to find out what that nickname means," Gabriella said, sitting down next to Chad.

Chad shook his head in protest. "No way. That's top secret info Gabs. I'll take that secret to my grave."

"Oh, I'll find out. Don't you worry." Gabriella said with a small smirk. "Anyways, I better go finish my breakfast before it gets cold. I'll see you downstairs."

Gabriella stood up and made her way towards the door. "Oh, and just in case there's no more left when you get there," Gabriella pulled the piece of bacon out of her pocket before tossing it at Chad, "there's some bacon for you."

"I knew it!" Chad called out to a giggling Gabriella who was making her way downstairs, before popping the piece of bacon in his mouth and heading into the bathroom to get ready.

---

"You outdid yourself again Mom! That was delicious!" Chad praised, picking up his plate and taking it over to the sink, dropping a kiss on his mother's cheek.

"Thank you Chad. But it was just French Toast. I didn't make a feast."

"You forget I eat cafeteria food almost every day. Home cooked meals are heavenly."

"Well, I'll do my best to fill you up before you go back."

"Chad? Full? Are we talking about the same person Mrs. Danforth?" Gabriella chimed in, to which Chad replied maturely by sticking out his tongue.

"Kitty, when are we going to get the tree?" Jordynn asked, running up to Chad and tugging on his arm.

"We'll go in a few minutes, k?"

"Yay!" Jordynn cheered, wrapping her arms around Chad.

"Gabi and I are just gonna go wake Troy up, since he won't answer his phone, and then I'll come back and we'll all go."

"Troy's coming?" Shannon asked excitedly, finally turning her attention away from the TV.

Chad rolled his eyes at his younger sister. "Yes Shannon, Troy is coming with us. And no, your friends can't come," he added quickly, seeing the look in her eyes. "Alright, you three go get ready, and Gabi and I will be right back."

Chad and Gabriella made their way over to Troy's house, and were greeted by Lucille Bolton as they rang the doorbell.

"Hi Chad!" Lucille greeted happily.

"Hey Lucille. This is my roommate Gabriella Montez."

"Hi Gabriella," Lucille said, shaking Gabriella's hand. "You must be the girl Troy was telling me about."

Gabriella felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment at the thought of Troy talking about her. "Hi Mrs. Bolton, it's nice to meet you."

"Please, call me Lucille dear," she said, shaking her head. "Anyways, I'm guessing you two are here to see Troy. He's still asleep upstairs, but you both are welcome to go on up. I'm sure he'll be getting up soon anyways. He went to bed early last night so I can't imagine him sleeping much longer."

"Well, if he's anything like Chad, he'll sleep all day," Gabriella joked, earning a playful glare from Chad and laughter from Lucille.

"Well, I will leave you two alone. I am going to get back to my movie. They're showing old time Christmas movies all day, and right now I'm watching White Christmas."

"Sounds like fun Mrs. B.," Chad replied. "We'll leave you to it."

"It was nice meeting you Gabriella, and seeing you Chad." Lucille smiled at the two before disappearing towards the family room.

---

Troy threw his pillow over his face at the sound of the doorbell downstairs. He had been lying in bed for about an hour, pretending like he was asleep and ignoring his phone that had been buzzing on his nightstand.

Troy had left Chad's house the day before, soon after Gabriella came in, grinning from ear to ear as she told Chad that she'd finally got to talk to Patrick. He had mixed emotions about it all. On one hand, he loved to see Gabriella's face all lit up, but on the other hand, he couldn't help but wish it was him that put that smile on her face.

He wasn't used to feeling jealous, especially this strongly. And that is why he decided to go home early and had been avoiding being around Gabriella. He realized that he hated being around her and knowing he couldn't have her.

Troy was brought out of his sulking as he heard a knock on the door.

"I'm still sleeping!" Troy groaned, pulling the pillow more tightly over his face.

"Better make sure you're decent Bolton." Troy groaned once again in frustration, before the door opened and Chad walked through, followed by Gabriella.

"Let's go Hoops, get up." Chad called out walking towards the bed, leaving a timid Gabriella in the doorway.

"Dude, I'm sleeping," Troy protested, pulling the covers over his head defiantly.

Chad stepped over to the bed, grabbing the blanket and throwing it off of Troy, who was shirtless with a pair of dark green basketball shorts on.

"Chad!" Troy yelled, sitting up and grabbing the blankets, his eyes darting to the corner of the room to see a very red Gabriella with her eyes drifting down to his chest.

Troy smiled at her before turning back to glare at Chad. "So what did you wake me up for?"

"We're gonna go get our Christmas Tree, and I need your help getting it on the roof of the van and then into the house."

Troy hesitated, discreetly looking at Gabriella out of the corner of his eye. "I don't know man."

"Why not?"

"Uh…homework?" Troy answered with a questioning tone.

Chad burst out laughing, slapping Troy on his shoulder. "Nice one man. Homework," Chad repeated amusedly, shaking his head.

"Chad, if Troy has homework, we should let him do it," Gabriella finally spoke up.

"Troy doesn't have homework," Chad clarified, still chuckling. "It's Christmas break Gabs. We just had finals. Only crazy people like you study over break," Chad added cheekily, grinning as Gabriella stuck her tongue out at him.

"Okay fine, I don't have homework," Troy sighed. "But I did promise my mom that I'd watch movies with her today," Troy quickly added, trying to find another excuse.

"Yeah, okay. Like you are going to sit around and willingly watch White Christmas. Let's go Bolton. We'll meet you downstairs in five minutes," Chad laughed before heading towards the door.

Troy reluctantly swung his legs out of bed, looking up to see Gabriella grinning at him. Unable to help himself, he smiled in response, waving slightly as she followed Chad out the door.

---

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the Christmas tree farm, all of them piling out of the minivan and making their way inside the gates.

Troy awkwardly placed his hands in his pockets, walking silently beside Gabriella as they made their way down the rows of trees.

"We're gonna get a Christmas Tree—We're gonna get a Christmas Tree," Jordynn sang, skipping up to Gabriella and Troy, grabbing each of their hands as she continued to sing.

"You excited Jordynn?" Troy asked playfully, smiling at the excited young girl.

"Yeah! Can you help us find a really _really_ tall tree Troy?" Jordynn asked sweetly, her big brown eyes looking up at Troy pleadingly.

"Of course! Let's go find the tallest one we can," Troy said, much to Jordynn's excitement. "The tall ones are over there," Troy pointed to some trees in the opposite corner.

"Race you there," Jordynn challenged, smiling at Troy before sprinting off towards the direction he pointed.

Troy laughed before taking off too, quickly catching up to Jordynn and picking her up by the waist, tossing her over his shoulder.

Gabriella laughed as she watched Troy spin her around and then run towards the taller trees, Jordynn giggling as she gripped onto Troy for dear life.

"She always gets so excited for Christmas." Gabriella turned her head to see Chad walk up beside her, noticing Madison and Shannon walk ahead of them following Troy.

"I can tell," Gabriella laughed, her eyes still focused on Troy and Jordynn up ahead. "They're really cute together."

Chad turned his eyes towards Gabriella, noticing the content look on her face.

"So, you and Troy seem to be getting along pretty well," Chad commented, gaining her attention.

Gabriella felt her breath catch in her throat. She wasn't sure if Chad was hinting that there was something between her and Troy, but she had hoped that the attraction she was feeling towards Troy wasn't that obvious.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Gabriella stuttered out.

"I mean, you were pretty nervous around him to begin with, like you normally are around other guys. But you two seemed to have clicked pretty well."

"Yeah, I guess. He's been really nice to me. And on top of that, if we're both your best friends, we're bound to get along."

Chad chuckled, "Good point."

"Kitty! We found one!" Jordynn yelled across the lot, much to Chad's embarrassment and Gabriella's amusement.

"Come on," Chad groaned, his head ducked to hide his embarrassment. "Let's get over there before she yells that out again."

"Jordynn, you know you can call me Chad," Chad told her under his breath.

"But I like calling you Kitty," Jordynn argued, a pout forming on her face.

"Fine," Chad sighed, giving in to her puppy dog eyes. "Just don't yell it out okay?"

"I still need to know where that nickname comes from," Gabriella giggled, glancing over at Troy who quickly averted his eyes from her. Gabriella tried to ignore the slight hurt she felt as she realized Troy had been acting very different around her that day.

"No you don't," Chad protested. "Family secret."

"And that's why I know," Troy mumbled sarcastically. "It's only fair she knows Chad. Who's gonna tell her?"

"Ooo! I will!" Shannon volunteered excitedly before turning to Gabriella to explain. "Basically when Jordynn was two years old, she sat on Chad's lap one day and started petting his afro, and then called him 'kitty', because that's what she called anything that was furry."

"My hair is not furry!" Chad protested as Gabriella erupted in fits of laughter.

"Whatever you say Kitty," Shannon giggled, smirking at Chad.

"I can't wait to tell our other roommates," Gabriella commented, smirking at Chad who was grumbling under his breath.

---

Later that night after they the tree was all decorated, Gabriella found herself sitting on the couch in the Danforth's living room, Troy on her one side and Taylor and Chad cuddled up in the recliner on her other side. Taylor had come over that night to help them decorate, and after the girls all went to bed, the four had decided to hang out a little longer and watch a movie.

Gabriella's eyes drifted to Troy, who was staring blankly at the movie on the screen. She couldn't figure out what was wrong. Ever since she had arrived, Troy had basically been talking to her nonstop. But he had barely talked to her that day, and she began to wonder if he was just sick of her or something.

Quietly excusing herself, Gabriella made her way towards the kitchen to get something to eat. She spotted the Christmas cupcakes Mrs. Danforth had made earlier, and quickly grabbed one for herself, taking a bite of it as she looked out the window, still deep in thought.

"Couldn't resist another cupcake, huh?"

Gabriella whipped her head around at the sound of the smooth voice, seeing Troy grab a cupcake on the counter and walk up next to her.

"Well, who can resist a cupcake with chocolate frosting and a snowman on it?" Gabriella responded with a grin.

"Not me," Troy smiled at her, taking a small bite of his cupcake. "So I wanted to apologize for being kind of stand-offish today," Troy said quietly, looking at his feet as he shuffled them back and forth. "I was just in a bad mood, but I realized I probably came off as a jerk."

"No you didn't," Gabriella said quickly. "I was just worried I'd offended you or something."

Troy shook his head. "You didn't do anything wrong, don't worry."

Gabriella grinned at him, "Well, that's good. I was worried because this break wouldn't be as much fun if you were mad at me. I really have had a lot of fun hanging out with you, and I wanted to thank you for trying to make me feel at home," Gabriella finished, blushing at her confession.

"You're welcome," Troy told her sincerely. "And for the record, I love hanging out with you too."

Troy grinned at her, watching as she ducked her head in embarrassment, before taking another bite of her cupcake, a small bit of frosting ending up on her cheek. Troy took a step closer, reaching his hand out to her, and wiping the frosting from her face, his hand lingering on her cheek.

Troy stared into her chocolate brown eyes, his thumb still lightly caressing her cheek as they both momentarily forgot about Patrick and everything else that was keeping them apart. Troy began to lean his head down, and Gabriella closed her eyes, butterflies erupting in her stomach in anticipation. But before Troy could get any further, they were interrupted by Chad yelling from the other room.

"Hey, don't eat all my cupcakes guys! Bring some in for me and Tay!"

Troy took a step back from Gabriella, his hand reluctantly dropping from her cheek.

"Ouch Tay!"

Troy and Gabriella both laughed as Chad screeched from the other room.

"We better get him his cupcakes before he starts a riot," Troy sighed.

"Yeah, he can get grumpy if he doesn't get his food," Gabriella added, smiling weakly at Troy.

"Chocolate with lots of frosting please!" Chad yelled out again.

"Point proven," Troy chuckled, grabbing a few cupcakes before making his way back towards the family room.

Gabriella took a deep breath watching Troy walk away. She couldn't believe what had just almost happened, but even more so, she couldn't believe how much she actually wanted it to happen. And that thought she realized, scared her half to death.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Hey everyone! Corri here. Sorry again for the late update. Finals are finally over for me. Woohoo! And hopefully things are lightening up for Rin and Stacey as well, so our updates shouldn't be so late. The reviews were awesome once again. Hope you like this one too! **

* * *

All I Want

That night Gabriella decided not to call Patrick, figuring that if he wanted to talk to her, he would call her. But the call never came.

Instead Gabriella lay in bed, her mind replaying the almost kiss with Troy in the kitchen until she was convinced that she had imagined the kiss, after all, why would someone as amazing as Troy want to kiss someone as plain as herself?

Then she was plagued with guilt because she had _wanted_ Troy to kiss her, and she was in a relationship with Patrick, she shouldn't be thinking about kissing anyone but him.

These thoughts taunted Gabriella until she drifted into a restless sleep just after 2:00 AM, only to be woken at 6:30 later that morning by her cell phone ringing.

Sleepily searching for the offending item Gabriella managed to locate it and answer the call, surprised to hear Patrick's voice on the other end.

"Hello?" Came Gabriella's sleepy greeting.

"Hello Gabriella," the sound of Patrick's voice woke Gabriella up quickly.

"Patrick?"

"Yes, it is me. I was just calling to tell you not to try and contact me today, because I will be really busy in the lab all day with research so I am leaving my phone in my dorm room as to not be interrupted," Gabriella resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his formal tone.

"Okay, I'm going ice skating with Chad and Troy today anyway," Gabriella answered. "I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Perhaps, Gabriella. I don't know how long this research will take. It is top priority after all, very vital to my future." Patrick answered, the name of another man that Gabriella would be spending time with not even registering in his mind.

"Oh, well I guess you should just ring me when you're finished with it all?" Gabriella said sadly, realizing she wasn't going to hear from Patrick at all until he had finished with whatever important research he was apparently having to do.

"I'll make sure I do, Gabriella. Good bye." With that a dial tone rung in Gabriella's ear, leaving her feeling dejected as she tossed her phone to the floor and rolled over her bed, feeling the tears form as she noted that Patrick hadn't been remotely boyfriendly to her at all during the conversation.

Finally when Gabriella had cried all she could, she fell into a light sleep, which is how Chad found her near 10:00 AM.

He had thought it was weird when he'd gotten up and his Mom said she hadn't seen Gabriella all morning. Chad went back upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door, but received no answer, so he gently opened her bedroom door and peeked inside.

The room was still in semi darkness and there was a small, Gabriella-sized bump in the bed which moved at the sound of the door creaking open.

"Chad?" Came Gabriella's sleep filled voice.

"Morning, Gabs, are you feeling okay?" Chad had never known Gabriella to sleep in, even slightly, and he was worried that she was sick.

"I'm fine, I just had a hard time sleeping last night, but I'm awake now," Gabriella lied, rubbing her swollen eyes.

"You look like you've been crying?" Chad noticed Gabriella's red rimmed eyes at he stepped closer to her bed.

"I'm just tired, Chad," Gabriella enforced. "What time are we meeting Troy and Taylor?"

Chad noticed the change of subject, but chose to just go with what Gabriella was saying, knowing that he didn't want to push her into confessing what she was upset about.

"They'll be here any minute, but we can cancel ice skating if you're not feeling well," Chad offered.

Gabriella thought about it for a fraction of a second, but as soon as Troy's image flashed in her mind, she knew that she had to see him today. He was the one thing that made her happy after she'd been talking to Patrick, and she was desperate to know if she had just imagined the almost kiss, or if Troy could seriously be interested in her.

"No, I love ice skating, I can't wait for it," Gabriella reminded Chad. "I'll just go and take a quick shower, I'll meet you downstairs?"

Chad nodded and watched as Gabriella left the room before he retrieved her phone from the floor, flicking through to her call log and seeing that Patrick had called her that morning, and he wondered if their conversation had something to do with Gabriella's crying the night before.

--

Troy frowned as he noticed the worried look on Chad's face as he entered the kitchen.

"Everything okay, man?" Troy asked as Chad sat down on the chair next to him.

"Uh yeah, but something's wrong with Gab," Chad said slowly. "She looked like she'd been crying, and I looked at her cell phone and she talked to Patrick this morning."

The first thing Troy could think of was that Gabriella had broken up with Patrick, but he instantly changed his mind, knowing that Gabriella loved Patrick and wouldn't be breaking up with him.

"Maybe she just had a bad dream or something," Troy concluded. "Where is she anyhow?"

"Just taking a shower before we go," Chad replied, the doorbell interrupting him. "That's Taylor I'm just going to go and answer that, can you go and let Gabriella know that we're just waiting for her?"

Troy nodded, heading upstairs towards the bathroom. Not hearing the shower running ,he assumed Gabriella hadn't even started showering yet and he chuckled to himself at how long girls took to get ready.

Rapping on the door Troy was surprised when it opened before he had a chance to speak, revealing to him Gabriella who was dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans and a long dark blue woolen sweater, her curls hung over her shoulders and were obviously wet from the shower.

"Oh hey," he stammered, not having expected to see her.

"Hey," Gabriella replied nervously, dropping her eyes to the ground.

"Chad said to tell you that we're ready to leave when you are," Troy remembered why he was up here in the first place as his eyes took the chance to roam over Gabriella's pink tingled face, settling on her plump lips.

"I just have to get my shoes on and tie back my hair," Gabriella said softly, going to side step Troy just as he moved in the same direction to get out of her way, causing them to end up face to face and extremely close to one another.

"You should leave your hair down, it looks beautiful," he said gently as she tilted her face up towards his.

Troy reached a hand up to caress her cheek gently getting lost in her eyes for a few moments as she stared back at him. Not wanting to make her feel more uncomfortable as he knew she'd been crying, Troy stepped aside and let her pass, watching her walk to her bedroom, before he headed downstairs, inwardly scolding himself for the comment and gesture as he didn't want to give her the wrong idea.

He was drawn from his thoughts when he accidentally walked into Chad at the bottom of the stairs.

"Whoa, careful Hoops. Is Gabriella almost ready?" Chad asked, slapping Troy playfully on his shoulder.

"Uh, yeah. She's just um… doing her hair and getting her shoes," Troy managed to remember, trying to block the thought of how close he had been standing to her and how soft her skin felt under his fingers.

"Sweet, we'll just go and tell my Mom that we'll be leaving in a few then, meet you and Gabs in the car, okay?" Chad said, too busy looking at Taylor to notice that Troy was very distracted.

"Okay," Troy echoed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

How was he going to get through another day with Gabriella but not being able to touch her? He wasn't sure if he could do it anymore.

--

Troy watched as Gabriella gracefully skated around the indoor rink, she looked so at ease and perfect that he hadn't been able to tear his eyes away from her for the ten minutes they had been at the rink and Gabriella had quickly put on her skates and got onto the ice.

Meanwhile Troy had sat down on a bench on the side of the rink, taking his time to put on his skates while he watched Gabriella gliding around. He was pleased she had worn her hair down, obviously having listened to his comment about liking it down.

"Dude, you ready to get out there?" Chad asked, pointing towards the ice, his arm firmly around Taylor's waist and Troy wished he could do the same with Gabriella.

"I'll be a minute, just gotta… re-tie my skates," Troy lied, knowing that he'd make a fool of himself the second he stepped out onto the ice.

"See you out there then," Chad said with a laugh, knowing that Troy was horrible at ice skating.

"Yeah," Troy replied weakly, resting his face in his hands as he tried to build up the courage to get out on the ice.

"Troy!" A familiar voice snapped Troy out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Gabriella standing at the edge of the ice, smiling her soft smile at him.

"Hey, looking good out there," Troy complimented, feeling less nervous just by Gabriella's presence.

"Thanks, I'd say the same about you, but you haven't been out there yet," Gabriella teased.

"I told you I spend more time on my ass than on my feet when I ice skate," Troy reminded her.

"Come with me," she gestured, waiting for Troy to unsteadily stand and make his way to her.

Gabriella took Troy's hands in her own when he was close enough and helped him onto the ice, giggling when he started to wobble.

"Just don't think about it, it's easy," Gabriella instructed, skating backwards slowly, pulling Troy along with her.

"Easy for you maybe," Troy muttered, loving the feel of Gabriella's hands in his own, their fingers having instinctively laced.

"Look, you haven't fallen down yet," Gabriella commented, letting go of one of Troy's hands as she sped up.

"Yet," Troy said with a short laugh, feeling his fingers slip from Gabriella's as he fell backwards, hitting the ice with a sharp crack.

"Are you okay?" Gabriella was kneeling in front of him within seconds, her dark eyes filled with worry.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Troy said, letting Gabriella take his hands once more and help him back to his feet.

"Nothing hurts?" Gabriella probed, her hand running up one of his arms as if checking for any injuries.

"Just my pride," Troy replied, feeling sparks at Gabriella's touch.

"Aw, poor baby," Gabriella teased with another soft giggle. "Hold onto my hand tighter this time."

Troy obliged, letting Gabriella lead him again as he did his best to concentrate on staying upright, letting her lead him around the rink, picking up speed as he gained confidence.

A half hour later and Troy was skating unassisted, following Gabriella around the rink, doing his best to keep up with her speed, but amazed at how effortlessly she was able to skate around, showing off slightly with her tricks and movements.

Taylor and Chad soon skated over to the pair, Chad instantly teasing Troy about how Gabriella's skill had rubbed off on him.

"I swear you've spent more time standing on the ice today than you have the rest of your life when you've been here," Chad teased and Troy scowled at him, the scowl turning into a smile as Gabriella laughed, nudging Troy with her hip.

"You know it's probably true, Troy," Gabriella giggled and Troy rolled his eyes at her.

"Probably, but I had an amazing teacher today," he complimented, loving how her cheeks turned red.

"Okayyyy," Chad interrupted, not wanting the flirting to continue. "Let's go get lunch!"

"You're always thinking of your stomach," grumbled Troy, but he reluctantly followed Taylor, Chad and Gabriella across the rink.

Just before they were at the edge Troy lost his footing and fell on his backside again, much to the amusement of Chad, and the worry of Gabriella.

"Still okay?" She asked as she held out her hands and Troy started to pull himself up, losing his footing again and falling back to the ice, this time bringing Gabriella down with him.

The pair erupted into laughter as Chad and Taylor watched them being so ease at each other.

"Come on you, get off me, the ice is going through my jeans," Troy teased, watching Gabriella scramble off him, waiting for him to get up before she took his hand in hers again.

"Don't want you falling again," she explained, even though they were almost off the ice, but Troy didn't complain, loving the way their hands fit together perfectly.

The two of them made their way over to a bench where Chad and Taylor were sitting, replacing the skates on their feet with their shoes. Troy stood up as Taylor and Chad made their way towards the car, their hands intertwined. Grinning at Gabriella, Troy extended his hand and helped her up, keeping her hand encased in his as they went out towards the car.

As they exited the building, Gabriella let their fingers lace and leaned a little closer to Troy. Gabriella knew that she shouldn't be encouraging Troy, but she couldn't help but love the way he made her feel, the butterflies in her stomach confirming that she was indeed falling for him, Patrick or no Patrick.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Hey, this is Rin. Sorry for the late post. I'm sick with a bad cold, but the pink bunnies I'm seeing reminded me to post....maybe I should stop with the cold medicine. Thanks to Dani for her inspiration this chapter. Hope she likes it, and we hope the rest of you do too. **

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All I Want

Gabriella's mind was racing as she sat in the back of Chad's car next to Troy as they made their way back to Chad's house after having lunch. Since they had left the ice skating rink, Gabriella had noticed how Troy kept touching her in various ways. Whether it was the way he had placed his hand on the small of her back as he opened the door to Chad's car for her, or the way his leg brushed against hers as they sat next to each other in the booth of the restaurant, or the way his pinky was hooked with hers that sat on the seat in between them at that very moment.

Every time he touched her, her heart would race and her stomach would flutter.

And that excited her and worried her at the same time. She had never felt this way around anyone else—not even with Patrick in the beginning of their relationship. With Patrick, she was usually the one to initiate anything between them, which was a rare occurrence anyways. But with Troy it was the exact opposite. And throughout that day, she had realized that she craved Troy's touch. It was different than what she was used to, but in a good way—a very good way.

She had a conflict arising inside of her. On the one hand, she had been with Patrick for four years of her life. She was comfortable with that, and she couldn't stand the thought of hurting him at all. And, on top of that, the words of warning about Troy from Chad kept racing through her head. Could someone like Troy really feel something for someone like her? And if he did, how did she know that she wasn't just another girl. From what Chad had told her, she gained the impression that Troy wasn't a relationship type of guy.

But the other side of the argument, the one that was winning at the moment, was telling her that maybe Troy wasn't like what she thought. Maybe there was potential there and she shouldn't ignore her feelings. She had been with Patrick for four years, yet they hadn't really gone anywhere in that time. To her, he felt like a close friend and nothing more. Sure she loved him, but she was starting to realize that maybe she just loved him as a friend. Was she really or was she ever in love with him?

Gabriella was pulled from her thoughts as she felt Troy rub his fingers across her hand, his pinky still hooked with hers.

"Hey, you okay?" Troy asked from his seat next to her, obviously noticing that she had been deep in thought.

"Yeah," Gabriella breathed out with a sigh, momentarily forgetting about all that she was dwelling on as she got lost in Troy's caring blue eyes that were piercing into hers. "Just zoned out for a bit."

"You looked like you were having fun out there today."

"I told you I loved to ice skate. It's so peaceful," Gabriella said softly, the two of them unconsciously leaning a little closer together, their shoulders almost brushing.

"Not exactly the word I'd use to describe it," Troy chuckled.

"Hey, you did pretty well today. A few more times for practice, and you'll be gliding around the rink in no time."

"Only reason was because I had an awesome instructor," Troy grinned at her as she blushed, and leaned closer to her ear. "And I'll only go back if that beautiful instructor is there to hold my hand as I learn," Troy whispered in her ear, not wanting Chad or Taylor to overhear.

Gabriella felt her cheeks heat up when Troy's warm breath hit her ear, praying that he couldn't hear her heart as it was pounding in her chest.

"By the way," Troy said softly, pulling back to look into her eyes. "Thank you for helping me out today. Even though I would have been fine sitting in the bleachers watching you skate, I have to admit skating was fun."

"I'll tell you what was fun, watching you fall on your butt all day long," Chad piped in from the front seat as they pulled into the driveway, earning a glare from Troy.

"Thanks man, I'll be sure to put some extra thought into your gift," Troy muttered sarcastically, opening his door and rushing around to the other side of the car.

Gabriella went to grab the door handle, only to notice the door being opened from the outside. Troy sent her a smile that caused her heart to speed up once more, before reaching his hand out towards her, softly encasing her hand in his as he helped her out of the car.

"Troy, you're such a gentleman," Taylor commented, watching the two interact. "Chad, how come you never do things like that for me?" Taylor questioned her boyfriend, smacking his arm.

"Aww babe, I'm sorry," Chad apologized, wrapping his arm around Taylor's shoulder, and bringing his other in a sweeping motion under her legs before picking her up off the ground into his arms.

"Chad! What are you doing?" Taylor screeched, her hands locking around Chad's neck as he shifted her in his arms.

"You said you wanted me to be a gentleman," Chad grinned down at her, kissing her on the tip of her nose. "So that's what I'm doing," Chad added, before walking up the sidewalk and taking her inside.

Gabriella felt a smile tug at her lips as she saw her best friend being so smitten by his girlfriend. She jumped slightly as she felt a hand tentatively wrap around her waist and felt Troy's breath on her ear. "Ten bucks says they'll be making out on the couch when we get inside."

"Probably," Gabriella giggled, turning her face up to look at Troy. Seeing the look in his eyes, she shivered lightly, but Troy mistook it for her being cold and quickly brought his hands to rub her arms up and down.

"We better get you inside. Can't have you sick for Christmas," Troy smirked at her before letting his hand trail down her arm, taking her hand in his before pulling her gently towards the door.

As Gabriella followed Troy into the house, her stomach fluttered once more as her mind and heart began to race, and she knew that she needed to sort out her thoughts soon.

---

A few hours later, Gabriella sat at the dining room table, a cup of hot chocolate in hand as she looked out into the backyard, watching Troy and Chad play a game of one-on-one.

"Mind if I join you?"

Gabriella glanced to the doorway, seeing Taylor standing there sipping her cup of hot chocolate.

"Sure," Gabriella smiled, shifting in her chair to face Taylor who took a seat across from her.

"I swear those two were attached at the hip when they were growing up," Taylor laughed, watching as Chad fought with Troy for a rebound. "Even through high school they were near inseparable. After Chad and I started dating, I was around Troy just about as much as I was around Chad."

"Yeah, that's how it's been for me this week. Actually, I've almost been around Troy more than Chad," Gabriella added, her eyes drifting out towards Troy.

Taylor followed her eyes, and then looked back at her, noticing the small smile that had formed on her face as she watched Troy.

"You really like him, huh?"

"What?" Gabriella asked incredulously.

"Troy," Taylor supplied, even though they both knew who she was referring to. "Since I've been around you two this past week, I can tell."

"You can?" Gabriella suddenly felt her stomach twist as fear laced her veins, worried that she was being too obvious.

Taylor nodded. "It's just the way you look at him, and the way your whole face lights up whenever he's around."

Gabriella blushed and averted her eyes to her hot chocolate, spinning it around in her hands. "But it shouldn't," Gabriella sighed, still shifting her cup in her hands.

"Because of your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, Patrick," Gabriella said, finally looking up. "I feel so wrong even thinking about this. I mean, I'm dating Patrick. I shouldn't be feeling this way about someone else."

Taylor nodded, silently listening as she let Gabriella finally get her thoughts out. "And I tried to get Troy out of my head, to focus my thinking on Patrick. But I can't seem to. Patrick is being so distant right now. We've had only one decent conversation in months, and that was the other day when he called after Troy took me to the ATV park. Even then, we only got to talk for ten minutes before he had to go."

"That's got to be tough on a relationship," Taylor offered sympathetically, feeling for the girl in front of her who was obviously very torn.

"It is," Gabriella agreed. "And it's not just because I'm starting to feel things for Troy. It has been like this between us for months, but I never even noticed it."

"Well, it's normal for you. Four years is a long time to be with someone. It's not easy to even think about that changing."

"It isn't," Gabriella sighed. "But is it wrong that I want it to change? I mean, the last few days I've been thinking a lot, and I realize that with Patrick, I never felt this way. With Patrick, it seems like we are more like really good friends. I love him, but not in that way."

"Can you talk to him about all of this?"

"I want to…see if maybe he feels the same way. But I can't. He told me the other morning that he won't be able to talk for the next few days because he's so busy with his lab work," Gabriella said, bringing her hand up and running her hand through her hair. "I don't even know why I'm thinking about this so much though. It's not like I even have a shot with Troy. Maybe I should just leave things the way they are."

"What are you talking about hun?" Taylor questioned, shaking her head. "Why do you think that you don't have a shot with Troy?"

"Because he's not in my league. I mean, I'm not even his type. Why would he want to date me?"

"Gabriella, why wouldn't he want to date you? You're an amazing girl. I've only known you for a few days, but I've heard Chad talk about you for months. Troy would be lucky to be with a girl like you."

"I don't know. Chad told me how Troy is with girls."

"Gabriella, have you seen the way Troy looks at you?" Taylor asked, not being able to understand how Gabriella could think those things. "Listen hun, I've known Troy for a long time, and I have never seen him look at any girl the way he looks at you. I know Chad told you how Troy is with girls, but he's not acting like that with you. And to tell you the truth, Troy hasn't been with that many girls. Sure he dated a few here and there in high school, but he's never been interested in someone the way he is with you."

Gabriella blushed again, averting her gaze once more to look out at Troy and Chad who were now sitting on the grass in the backyard as they drank some water.

"You want my advice?" Taylor asked, Gabriella looking to her and nodding.

"Please."

"Don't push Troy away thinking you have no shot with him, and don't push away your feelings. The two of you seem to have a connection. And I know it's tough thinking of breaking things off with Patrick because you two have been together for so long. But my question is, if Troy wasn't around, but things were still like they were with Patrick, would you want to stay in that relationship?"

"Probably not," Gabriella admitted. "I guess these past couple of weeks has just helped me to see the reality of my relationship with Patrick."

"Well then I think you have your answer," Taylor told her. "Next time you get a chance, you need to bring this up with Patrick though."

"I will. Thank you Taylor," Gabriella said sincerely. "I really appreciate you taking the time to help me sort this all out. You know, you and Chad are great together. And I can see why he is so smitten with you."

"Thank you. And no problem about the advice, I'm here if you want to talk," Taylor smiled, pushing her chair back and standing up. "Now let's go outside and get those two to come in. Otherwise, they're liable to play all night."

Gabriella giggled before following Taylor to the backdoor, finally feeling a little relieved about everything, and her stomach twisting in a good way as she anticipated being around Troy for the rest of the day.

---

"That's game Danforth. Have you been infected by those geniuses up at Stanford? Spending more time studying then playing ball?" Troy joked, spinning the ball on his finger as the two walked over towards the grass.

"Hell yeah man! It's Stanford! I still don't know how I'm even there, but I sure as hell am not going to mess things up. Gabriella would kill me if I left her there by herself."

At the mention of the brunette's name, Troy felt his heart speed up and a reflexive grin make its way onto his face. Suddenly he was lost in his thoughts, remembering the past few days with her. He'd tried to stay away, especially after he saw her so happy when she had talked with Patrick. But he couldn't help himself. He had fallen for her, and he wanted to be around her as much as possible. He wasn't going to push her into anything, but if he had a shot with her, he didn't want to miss his opportunity.

"You okay Hoops?" Chad asked, noticing that Troy had gotten quiet for a few minutes.

Troy cleared his throat. "Yeah, sorry," he apologized, but quickly spoke up again, realizing he needed to talk with Chad. "Actually man, I need to talk to you."

"About what?" Chad asked, taking a sip of his water.

"It's about Gabriella." Chad sighed, putting his water bottle down and looking at Troy. "Listen man, I know what you said. She has a boyfriend, and I respect that. I'm not going to make her do something she doesn't want to. But, I can't get her off my mind. You know me, and you know I've never felt this way about any girl. It's different with her."

Chad nodded, knowing Troy was right. He'd been discouraging Troy for the past couple of weeks, struggling with dealing with two of his best friends, and deciding what was best for both of them. But as he observed the two of them the past few days, even Chad could see something more was there. And he could see that Troy was different around Gabriella, but in a good way.

"I see that man. I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to protect Gabriella. I don't want to see her hurt at all."

"I get that. But isn't Patrick hurting her more than I am? You've seen how down she gets whenever he brushes her off. And a girl as amazing as she is shouldn't be just pushed to the side like that. I mean seriously, he hasn't seen his girlfriend in months and instead of jumping at the opportunity to be with her, he spends his Christmas break in a lab!?" Troy exclaimed, his anger rising as he thought of what this guy was doing to such a sweet girl like Gabriella. "He might as well be dating a Bunsen burner instead, since apparently that's more important," Troy muttered under his breath, Chad chuckling at Troy's comment.

"You're right Hoops; he shouldn't have turned down the opportunity to spend Christmas with Gabriella if he truly cared for her. I have seen the hurt in Gabriella's eyes when he pushes her to the side like that. And she does deserve a lot better than that. I just want her to be happy because a great girl like her deserves a really great guy. And these past couple of days I've realized that by keeping you from her, it may be hurting you both even more."

Troy looked at Chad, an amused smirk on his face.

"What?"

"Taylor's had quite the effect on you."

"Shut up man," Chad laughed, tossing the ball in between them at Troy's head, Troy successfully ducking out of the way.

Troy glanced towards the house where he knew Gabriella was, and took a deep breath before looking back to Chad. "So, if something were to happen between me and Gabriella, would you be okay with it then?"

Chad nodded, the two hearing the back door open. "If it's something you both want, then who am I to stand in the way? But if something does happen between the two of you and you hurt her, I won't hesitate to pound your face in."

"Of course," Troy laughed, standing up as he saw Gabriella and Taylor walking towards them.

"You two done with your game finally?"

"Aww babe, did you miss me that much?" Chad asked cheekily, wrapping his arms around Taylor's waist as he pulled her towards him.

"Well you and food. It's about dinner time," Taylor responded, her own arms snaking around Chad's neck.

Gabriella couldn't help but smile as Troy made his way towards her, his own face lit up as he looked at her before slinging his arm around her shoulders, and pulling her into his side.

"It's sickingly sweet, isn't it?" Troy laughed and Gabriella nodded, the two watching as Chad smirked at Taylor and leaned down, briefly kissing her lips.

"What's that look for?" Taylor asked skeptically as he pulled away.

"Nothing, it's just I'm so proud of you." Taylor furrowed her eyebrow in confusion as Chad continued. "I'm rubbing off on you. You're out here because you're thinking about food."

"Hey, you two lovebirds can keep talking, but I'm going to take Ella here to actually go eat some food," Troy called out, smirking at the two before trailing his hand down from Gabriella's shoulder to wrap around her waist.

As the two began to walk towards the house, Troy smiled as he felt Gabriella's own hand shyly wrap around his waist. Maybe, just maybe, he actually had a shot.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Thanks again for all the support. The reviews are making us smile. Enjoy! **

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All I Want

Gabriella stretched out across the couch in the Danforth's living room. Chad had gone to Taylor's house for lunch with her parents and Gabriella was bored.

Gabriella didn't get bored often.

She could always read a book, do some studying, ring Patrick. But none of those things appealed to her at that moment in time, for the one thing that was on her mind was somewhere in the house next door to her, and for the first time in days she hadn't seen him.

It was driving her crazy.

Gabriella had never known the feelings she had inside of her, the deep pang of missing someone as much as she was missing Troy was mixed with the butterflies still in her stomach from the casual touches he had given her constantly the day before. And lastly there was the slight feeling of guilt.

Guilt that her boyfriend had no idea she was daydreaming about another man kissing her, guilt that she wasn't even caring that she couldn't talk to said boyfriend for the next few days, guilt that she wasn't even missing him anymore.

Flipping the tv channel Gabriella was met with a commercial for Ice Skating and her thoughts drifted back, for the millionth time that morning, to the blue eyed man that was capturing her heart.

Gabriella was so lost in her thoughts she didn't hear the phone ringing at first, and when she did hear it, she figured someone else would answer it. Then she remembered that she was the only one home and she sprung up from her seat to the kitchen, answering the phone breathlessly.

"Hello?"

"Gabriella? It's Troy," Troy barely managed to get the reply out, his thoughts clouded with the sound of the sweet voice he hadn't thought would answer the phone.

"Hi Troy, Chad's um, at Taylor's," Gabriella said, leaning her back against the wall as she closed her eyes, willing her heart to stop beating so fast in her throat.

"Oh is he?" Troy replied, unable to manage more than a few words at a time.

"Yeah, he told you yesterday, I think," Gabriella vaguely remembered Chad mentioning it to Troy, but of course Gabriella had been more interested in how close she had been sitting to Troy, than what Chad was saying.

"Oh. Well it's Chad, sometimes you just stop listening to him," Troy said with a laugh. "So what are you doing?"

"Watching bad daytime tv," Gabriella said with a soft sigh.

"Well I was just going to watch a movie, you could, you know, come watch it with me?" Troy offered nervously.

"I'd like that," Gabriella replied, trying to keep from sounding too enthusiastic, but in reality she wanted to squeal with happiness.

"Me too, so just come over whenever," Troy also didn't want to sound excited, but the thought of having Gabriella alone made him feel like a boy about to go on his first date.

"Okay," Gabriella replied. "I'll bring cookies."

"Good idea, bye Ella," Troy hung up the phone, jumping in the air and pumping his fist in excitement.

As the dial tone hit her ear Gabriella broke out into a huge grin, quickly hanging the phone back up and racing upstairs to find her shoes, not wanting to spend a minute longer away from Troy than was necessary.

Ten minutes later Gabriella was nervously standing on Troy's doorstep, having rung the doorbell and now waiting in the cool air for him to come to the door.

"You could've just let yourself in, you know, Chad does," Troy teased as he opened the door, his eyes trailing down her body, taking in the black tights, denim miniskirt and blood red zip up hoody that she had on before his eyes settled on her face, her cheeks a slight pink from the cold.

"I have more manners than Chad," Gabriella giggled, following Troy through the house to the living room where he gestured to the couch.

"You sit, and I'll put on the movie," he instructed, turning his attention to the TV, allowing Gabriella to have her turn at checking him out.

She swallowed slowly, loving the way his jeans rode low on his hips, giving her a glimpse of his underwear and his lower back when the white t-shirt he had on rode up as he bent down to put the DVD in.

"Is The Holiday okay?" Troy asked as he returned to the couch, sitting next to Gabriella who was positioned in the middle of the couch.

"Sure," Gabriella agreed before pausing for a second. "Wait, were you gunna watch The Holiday by yourself?"

Troy rolled his eyes at her giggled remark. "No, I just thought it'd be a movie you'd enjoy, I don't do girls movies."

"Are you sure?" Gabriella teased, her dark eyes drifting up to meet with Troy's bright blues.

"Positive, are you insinuating that I'm a girly movie kind of guy?"

Gabriella burst into giggles, nodding her head slowly as she watched for his reaction. Troy watched her for a second before lunging at her, his fingers tickling her sides causing her giggles to double in volume.

"Take it back," he ordered, smiling at how cute she looked her cheeks all flushed and her curls spread around her.

"Never," Gabriella giggled, reaching her hands up to rest on his chest, meaning to push him back.

"Take it back, or else," Troy warned, his fingers stilling on Gabriella's sides.

"Or else?" Gabriella asked softly.

The air in the room was sparking with the electricity between the pair as Troy's eyes drifted between Gabriella's sparking eyes and her full lips. Gabriella's fingers curled in Troy's t-shirt, letting him lean closer to her until his lips brushed gently against her own.

As Troy went to move his lips away Gabriella pulled him gently back to her by his t-shirt, her lips moving against his this time in a bold statement,

Troy had been going to pull away, thinking he'd been way out of line in kissing Gabriella, but as she pulled him back to her he realised that perhaps he'd been wrong in his thinking, that he in fact did have a chance with Gabriella.

As air became a necessity Troy slowly pulled away, pecking Gabriella's lips once more before moving away.

"Sorry," Troy muttered, realizing that he'd just kissed another guy's girlfriend. He quickly sat up, shifting away from Gabriella slightly.

"Troy," Gabriella said softly, sitting back up herself and locking eyes with him. "Don't be sorry."

She attempted a smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes and Troy felt guilty.

The butterflies that had been in Gabriella's stomach were flying double time now, her head spinning with all the thoughts that were going through it. She had enjoyed the kiss far more than she should've. After all, she was with Patrick, even if she hadn't talked to him properly in months, let alone had a toe curling kiss with him, he was still her boyfriend.

The two minds of Gabriella fought it out, one part of her wanting to kiss Troy senseless, and the other part wanting to flee, to call Patrick, he was the most stable thing in her life. He'd been her boyfriend for four years, the only person she had ever dated, the only person she had ever loved, the only one she had kissed.

Until now.

Troy's kiss had been nothing like Patrick's. Troy's kisses were slow and sensual, a well practiced dance that Gabriella felt like she instinctively knew whereas Patrick's kisses, even after four years together, were never as perfect feeling as the one she had just experienced.

Deciding that he should try to watch the movie while he let Gabriella work out how she was feeling Troy simply rested his arm across the back of the couch, leaving the invitation to cuddle open to Gabriella, but not pressuring her into it.

Gabriella noticed Troy's arm move and she wanted nothing more than to shift across the small space between them and cuddle into his side.

She tried instead to concentrate on the movie, but the plot line of break ups had her brain going back to what she was going to do with Patrick.

It wasn't much of a choice, she now knew that she didn't love him, no more than she would love a close friend, and it wasn't fair on either of them to continue the relationship now she had reached this conclusion.

But she didn't want to hurt him. He was her constant in life, and one of her best friends, but she now knew from just one kiss with Troy that she didn't have any sparks with Patrick, that he couldn't give her what Troy could.

Taking a deep breath in, which didn't go unnoticed by Troy, she tried to decide what to do about the new part of her relationship with Troy. Did she keep acting the way they had been, with the flirting and touching, or did she keep her distance until things were sorted with Patrick.

Looking over at Troy her decision was instantly made. Watching him flick his head slightly so that his dark hair moved out of his piercing eyes made Gabriella's stomach explode with butterflies and she decided that things were as good as over with Patrick and that she should enjoy the moment with Troy.

Shifting every so slightly Gabriella made her way across the empty space on the couch, resting her head on Troy's shoulder, one arm slipping around his back and the other reaching across his lower stomach as she settled herself against him.

"Hey you," Troy said gently as he brought his arm from the back of the couch to drape over her shoulder.

"Hi," Gabriella replied nervously, tilting her chin to look at him, bringing their lips only inches apart.

"Comfy?" Troy teased, a smile crossing his lips as she nodded, her own smile stretching wide and this time lighting up her eyes.

"Very," Gabriella concluded, turning her attention back to the movie.

Troy couldn't believe how perfect she felt in his arms, he was smiling like an idiot and he just couldn't concentrate on the movie, his eyes drifting back to Gabriella, watching her giggle and gasp at all the right times during the movie.

"You're so cute," he whispered, lifting her chin with his index finger, bringing his other hand down so he could cup her face, running his thumb along her bottom lip, watching as her eyes fluttered closed.

Dipping his head, he brushed his lips against her closed eyes, her nose and finally her lips, savoring her taste as she kissed him back softly.

Deciding that if he kept kissing her he'd never be able to stop Troy let Gabriella settle back against him, going back to trying to watch the movie, even though he didn't have a clue what was going on.

Neither heard the front door opening and Troy's Mom coming home from the shops.

"Troy?" She called out as she entered the living room, seeing her son cuddled on the couch with the girl she had met just a few days earlier.

"Hey Mom." Troy answered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "You know Ella?"

"I do, hello Gabriella," his Mom greeted warmly.

"Hello Mrs. Bolton," Gabriella said softly, feeling Troy's arm around her waist tighten.

"Call me Lucille," she insisted. "Nice seeing you again, dear."

As Lucille left the room Troy groaned.

"What?" Gabriella asked, wondering if he was embarrassed at being caught cuddling with her.

"She's going to be so freaking happy, it's going to drive me insane," Troy confessed, blushing slightly which made Gabriella giggle.

But Troy didn't really care who teased him about Gabriella. Yesterday, he didn't think he'd have a chance with her, but now he knew he did, and he wasn't going to screw up his shot.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: A few quick things...first, we LOVED all the reviews this last chapter. That was the most so far and we love that all of you are loving this as much as we are. Second, someone asked how long their Christmas break was. We're making it like most college winter breaks, which is 3 weeks. So at this point, they are in the week before Christmas, only a few days till Christmas like it is for us (10 days!! for those of you like me who are keeping track). And finally, Stacey (longhardroadouttahell) who is also writing this made an awesome banner for this story. The link is on Rin's profile page, so be sure to check it out. It's really cute if I do say so myself. Anyways, enough of my long AN. Enjoy!**

* * *

All I Want

After the movie had ended, Gabriella had hung out with Troy a little longer, since he had insisted that she didn't go sit at Chad's house by herself. Not that she would have put up much of a fight anyways. She didn't want to turn down any opportunity to be around Troy, which is why she found herself beside Troy in the kitchen later that afternoon.

"So what do you want to eat?" Troy asked, peering into the refrigerator.

"It doesn't matter," Gabriella said shyly from her place on the counter next to him.

"You know," Troy swung the door shut and leaned against it as he glanced at her, "I could really go for some more of your cookies right about now. Shame you didn't bring enough."

"Well if you didn't eat them all, then we'd have some to snack on right now," Gabriella defended playfully. "Chad's rubbing off on you by the way. I still can't believe that whole bag is gone."

"Well your cookies are that amazing," Troy grinned, walking over and hopping up on the counter across from her. "Seriously, you could sell those they're so good."

"Thanks," Gabriella muttered, her cheeks blushing slightly.

Troy smiled at how cute she looked.

"I need to stock up on them before I leave. I'm going to be deprived when I go back to college."

"I could give you the recipe," Gabriella offered shyly.

"Good idea. And," Troy added, hopping off the counter and walking towards her, "You can teach me how to bake them."

"Right now?"

"Yeah! Chad won't be home for a bit, so we have time." Troy stopped in front of her, holding out his hands to her.

"You have the ingredients?" Gabriella asked him as he helped her down, trying to ignore the fact that he hadn't removed his hands from her waist.

"Let's find out," Troy said, letting his hands slowly trail from her waist before holding his left hand out to her, smiling as she laced her fingers through his. "So, what do you need?"

Troy walked towards the pantry, pulling her with him.

"Eggs, milk, shortening, baking soda, baking powder, and some flour," Gabriella rattled off the ingredients, hoping she didn't miss anything as she was distracted by the way Troy was lightly rubbing the edge of her hand with his thumb.

"Let's see what we have then." Troy released her hand and quickly dug through the pantry and the fridge, getting all the ingredients and placing them on the counter. "Okay, now what?" He asked once he had finished.

"We need a rolling pin, a pan, a bowl and a mixer, measuring cups, and cookie cutters if you have them."

"Damn, I'm gonna need to go shopping for my apartment once I get back at school," Troy muttered before digging through the cupboards, causing Gabriella to giggle.

After he had found all the materials, Troy let out a loud sigh, folding his arms as he smiled proudly at Gabriella. Gabriella grinned back and after the two had washed their hands, Gabriella arranged the ingredients in front of her and began to teach Troy.

"So first, we need two cups of sugar, three teaspoons of baking powder, and a teaspoon of baking salt," Gabriella instructed, smiling at how cute Troy looked as he furrowed his eyebrows, looking at all the ingredients.

"Okay," Troy hesitantly reached out and began to measure out all the ingredients, pouring them into the bowl. "Now what?"

Gabriella and Troy's eyes shifted to the doorway of the kitchen as they heard footsteps. "Hi Troy, Gabriella," Lucille said with a bright smile, before trying to send a sly wink towards Troy which wasn't sly at all.

"Mom," Troy hissed under his breath, smiling sweetly at Gabriella when she looked up at him.

"Yes dear?"

"What do you need?" Troy asked, feeling embarrassed by the way his mom was smiling approvingly at the girl next to him, but calming as he felt Gabriella lightly rub his forearm underneath the counter.

"Nothing, I was just checking to make sure you two didn't need anything. It looks like you have things under control. What are you baking?"

"Christmas sugar cookies," Gabriella informed her, her heart flipping as Troy took her hand in his, lacing their fingers.

"The BEST Christmas sugar cookies," Troy corrected, his eyes trailing down to Gabriella and a smile erupting on his face. "No offense mom," he added in the next breath, looking back up at her.

Lucille smiled at her son. "None taken Troy. You should have gotten aprons out for you and Gabriella though. Let me get them."

"No mom, really it's okay," Troy protested as she walked over to a drawer in the corner, pulling it open.

"Nonsense. You've always worn your apron when you cook."

"Oh great," Troy muttered under his breath, forcing a smile as Gabriella looked amusedly up at him.

"YOUR apron?" She questioned with a glint of amusement in her eyes.

Troy brought his hand that wasn't holding Gabriella's up to smack his own forehead and let out a groan. "This is why you make sure your mom's not around when you have girls over."

Immediately at his words, Gabriella wondered how much of a habit it was for him to have girls, and the thought entered her brain once more that she was just another girl in a long list of them. But as she felt Troy's thumb rub invisible circles on the palm of her hand, she quickly forgot that thought, relishing that at this point he seemed interested in her.

"I can't believe you forgot this. When you were growing up and helping me cook, you always wore it. Here you go sweetie," Lucille said, finally finding the aprons and walking towards him. Her eyes drifted down to their intertwined hands that were slightly hidden between their bodies and then drifted back up, beaming at Troy. Lucille stepped forward, handing Gabriella one apron as she draped the other over Troy's neck.

"Thanks Mom," Troy sighed, unable to resist a smile as Gabriella was giggling at the situation.

"You're welcome sweetheart. Have fun," Lucille kissed Troy on his head, and smiled at Gabriella before retreating back upstairs.

The two pairs of eyes trailed back to each other once she had gone. Gabriella smiled and took ahold of the edges of the apron draped over Troy's neck, straightening it out, her eyes drifting over it.

"Mommy's little helper?" Gabriella giggled, trying not to laugh too loudly.

"I swear I'm throwing this in the fire this year," Troy muttered, trying to be serious, but failing as Gabriella's laughter was putting a smile on his face.

"Nah, don't. I think it's cute," Gabriella said without thinking, her cheeks flushing again as she realized what she said.

Troy smiled genuinely, tying his apron around his waist before taking hold of Gabriella's apron, draping it over her neck and letting his hands wrap around her waist to tie it in the back, allowing his fingers to trail across her lower back and settle on her waist.

Troy smiled at her and leaned back, looking her up and down. "You look cute too." Troy leaned forward, his lips grazing her cheek softly before pulling back and rubbing his hands together. "Alright, let the baking continue."

--

An hour later, after they had made the dough and let it chill, they had brought it out and cut out some cookies in shapes of reindeer, Santa, stars, and snowmen.

"So ten minutes and that's it huh?" Troy asked as he placed the pan in the oven.

"Yep, that wasn't too bad right?"

"Pretty easy," Troy agreed, placing the oven mitt on the countertop. "Plus, once again I had an amazing teacher," Troy flirted, winking at her.

Gabriella ducked her head down in shyness, causing Troy to smirk. "We should finish cleaning all of this up."

Troy nodded and walked over next to her, gathering up the dirty dishes. Fifteen minutes later, they had finished washing all of the dishes and had the cookies cooling on the stovetop.

Troy smiled at Gabriella, drying off his hands and tossing the towel on the counter, before stepping closer to her. Noticing a bit of flour on her cheek, Troy reached his hand up, softly brushing his thumb against her cheek and wiping the flour away.

Gabriella's eyes fluttered shut at the contact, and Troy couldn't resist as he leaned down, his lips capturing hers in a slow, sweet kiss.

Gabriella sighed softly, her hand tentatively coming up to rest on Troy's shoulders as he cupped her face in one hand and his other rested on her waist. As they parted and Troy's other hand trailed to her waist, Troy rested his forehead against hers, his blue eyes connecting with her dark brown ones.

"I'm really glad you came over today," he admitted softly, wanting to say so much more but afraid to upset her, since he knew she was still with Patrick.

"Me too," Gabriella agreed, in that moment deciding she wanted nothing more than to be with Troy, but knowing that it wasn't possible at that point. She still needed to talk to Patrick and end things with him. And on top of that, she still didn't know how serious Troy was about a relationship.

Her thoughts were interrupted as her phone buzzed in her pocket. Quickly she retrieved it and flipped it open, noticing a text from Chad saying that he was home and dinner would be ready in twenty minutes.

"Chad?" Troy asked, correctly guessing who it was.

"Yeah, I guess I'd better go," Gabriella sighed, not wanting to leave Troy's arms.

"Can I see your phone?" Troy asked sweetly.

Gabriella handed it over, a skeptical look on her face.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to change your phone to a different language or something," Troy chuckled, quickly punching a few numbers in before handing it back to her.

Gabriella felt a smile tug at her lips as she looked down at her phone to see Troy had put his number in there.

"Next time you're bored, or if you just want to talk or whatever, you have my number," Troy said nervously, watching as she looked at her phone before pushing a few buttons.

Troy smiled as he heard his phone ring in his pocket. Quickly digging it out, he flipped it open, still smiling at the girl who was still in his arms.

"It's only fair you have mine too," Gabriella shrugged, watching as Troy quickly typed her name in before slipping his phone back in his pocket.

"Now you can expect a call from me early tomorrow morning."

"I don't think I have to worry about that. I know your sleeping in habits," Gabriella teased, jumping into Troy as his hands on her waist squeezed her sides. "Unfair Bolton."

Troy smiled cheekily at her. "Come on, I'll walk you back to Chad's," Troy offered, taking her hand in his before the two headed next door.

Gabriella and Troy walked at a slow, yet comfortable pace with their hands intertwined, neither wanting the amazing time they just had to end. Troy let out a deep breath as they reached the doorstep, wrapping his arm around Gabriella's shoulders and pulling her into his chest.

"Thanks again for coming over," he whispered softly. "This Christmas break is definitely my favorite one that I've ever had."

Gabriella's breath caught in her throat at his admission, part of her unable to believe that he was seemingly having as good of a time as she was. "Mine too," she managed to say, knowing the depth of the truth of those words.

Suddenly, she felt two fingers tuck under her chin and tug her face upwards gently before her lips were met with Troy's soft ones in a brief kiss. Troy brought her into his chest once more, his lips brushing against the top of her hair. "I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Sure," Gabriella smiled.

Unable to resist, Troy kissed her forehead once more before regretfully letting go of her hand and making his way back to his house, a smile painted on each of their faces as they both went into their houses.

As Gabriella stepped inside, the smile still etched on her face, she leaned against the closed door and let out a sigh.

She had just experienced one of the best days of her life, and she now knew that Troy was for sure interested in her the way she was in him.

But she still had so many uncertainties about everything. She needed to talk to Patrick and break things off with him, but she couldn't help but worry that she'd hurt him in the process.

And she still had the lingering questions of what would happen between her and Troy. Taylor had told her that Troy had never been that way around any other girl, but was that true? And would Troy really want a relationship with her, and could that work with the two of them going to different colleges and rarely seeing each other?

Gabriella shook her head as she pushed off of the door and made her way upstairs to talk with Chad, hoping that he could give her some advice to help her sort this all out.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Hey everyone, it's Corri. I know, this is late, even by my time zone, lol. But, it was a crazy day with work for me and Stacey and Rin being sick, so we did our best to get this up for you. We hope you all love it. Special thanks to Kirsten for her help in writing part of this. And can I personally have a fan moment for Zac/Vanessa and the Lakers to say, "akdgla holy crap. AMAZING". Those pics were adorable! Okay, I'm done...really I am jealous though. Every Lakers' fan's dream. And now I'm done with this AN. Enjoy! **

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All I Want

Gabriella knocked once on Chad 's bedroom door, waiting for him to call for her to enter before she turned the knob, opening the door and stepping inside.

"Hey Gabs," Chad greeted. "How was your day with Troy?"

"Good, really good," Gabriella stammered, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red.

"Really good?" Chad questioned, raising an eyebrow at Gabriella's nervousness, she wasn't often nervous around him.

" Chad promise you won't get mad, but Troy kissed me, I mean, we kissed," Gabriella spluttered.

"He kissed you?" Chad asked, his voice laced with shock.

"No, _we_ kissed," Gabriella confirmed.

"And you're just forgetting you have a boyfriend?"

" Chad, I know Taylor would've told what I've realized about my relationship with Patrick," Gabriella reasoned.

"Yeah she did," Chad replied sheepishly. "So are you going to break up with Patrick?"

Gabriella nodded. "Today. With Troy, I had butterflies the entire time, they've been there for days," Gabriella confessed.

"Listen Gabs, you know I just want you happy right?" Chad questioned as Gabriella nodded. "You just need to break things off with Patrick before things get too deep and you get more hurt. So as long as that happens and as long as Troy doesn't hurt you, then I'm cool about it," Chad reasoned, wondering how true his best friends' feelings were for each other.

"Thanks Chad," Gabriella said, reaching out to give him a quick hug. "I going to go and ring Patrick."

"Okay Gabs, good luck," Chad smiled at Gabriella, waiting for her to leave the room before snatching up his own cell phone.

Waiting a few rings he smiled as the familiar voice answered the phone. "Tay? You'll never guess what happened today!"

Meanwhile Gabriella had dialed Patrick's number before sitting down on the edge of her bed, nervously twirling one of her curls in her fingers as she waited for him to pick up.

"This is Patrick, please leave your message after the tone and I will return your call at the next available moment." BEEP.

Gabriella took a deep breath, realization sinking over her as she realized that hearing Patrick's voice had no effect on her like Troy's had earlier in the day.

"Patrick? It's Gabriella, I really need to talk to you, so please ring me back? Um, bye," Gabriella's voice shook as she left the message, guilt sinking over her as she realized she desperately didn't want to hurt Patrick, but denying her feelings for Troy couldn't happen anymore, so she had to end things with Patrick.

Gabriella dropped her head into her hands, she had been so hoping Patrick would answer, and now that he hadn't she wasn't sure on how to go about things now. Should she continue what she has going with Troy or stop it all until she talks to Patrick to break things off. At that thought she felt a pang in her chest. Someone she had cared about for four years was about to get hurt because of her and she hated that feeling.

Gabriella felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, pulling it out, she flipped it open seeing a new text from Troy. She pressed read, and began to read over her new text, '_Je crois que je suis tomber pour vous_'.

Gabriella smiled at because Troy didn't look like the kind of person to know French. Curiosity getting the best of her she reached for her laptop and pulled up the web browser clicking on the translator link from her google homepage. She quickly typed in the phrase and waited for the translation.

When it finally showed her breath caught in her throat, 'I think I'm falling for you'. She felt her face heat up at the words as her heart pounded in her chest. Everything hit her once more, and she knew she needed more advice from her best friend because she needed to figure things out soon before she went crazy. Quickly, she placed her laptop down and made her way down the hall towards Chad's room.

"Chad I- What are you doing?" She cut herself off seeing Chad with a jacket sleeve between his teeth.

Dropping the sleeve from his mouth, Chad grinned innocently at her. "Um, the people at the store forgot to take the security tag off."

She stared at him for a second before laughing at the look on his face. He looked like a little kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar before dinner. "So you are trying to take it off with your teeth?"

Chad shrugged, "Yeah I guess."

Gabriella shook her head, "It won't work. It's not meant to come off. You'll just ruin the clothes, you will have to take it back and have them remove it."

"Oh. Damn." Chad tossed the jacket on his bed, "Well are you ready for dinner because I was just about to come get you."

Gabriella nodded her head and followed him out of his room, "Oh what did you wanna say earlier?" Chad stopped and looked at her.

Her smile faded, "Nothing, don't worry about it. I'll tell you later."

Knowing that it was never a good idea to push her Chad just shrugged his shoulders and made his way down the stairs with Gabriella following close behind.

Chad's family were all sitting around the table when Chad and Gabriella arrived there and they sat in the seats across from Shannon and her friend Allie who both collapsed into giggles.

"Hi Gabriella," Shannon greeted excitedly.

"Hi Shannon," Gabriella replied uneasily, looking over at Chad who just shrugged his shoulders.

Gabriella's phone beeped loudly, indicating she had a text message and Gabriella quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket, a blush settling on her cheeks when she saw it was from Troy.

_You should completely sneak out and come over here._

Gabriella switched her phone to vibrate before she replied to the message, letting him know she was just about to eat dinner and she'd reply to him again when she'd finished.

"Was that Troy?" Shannon asked excitedly, her dark eyes widening in excitement.

"Uh no, it was my friend… from college," Gabriella lied, glancing over at Chad.

"It was Troy," Shannon retorted.

"Shannon. Leave Gabriella alone," Chad scolded.

"But we saw her and Troy. She was at his house!" Allie piped up.

"Yeah, we saw them kiss on the doorstep," Shannon confirmed.

"Shannon, I'm warning you," Chad's voice raised.

"Shannon. Please leave Gabriella alone," Chad's Mom said. "What she does with Troy is her business."

Gabriella blushed even more at the thought of what she _had_ been doing with Troy that afternoon and she quickly started to eat her dinner, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"So is Troy a good kisser?" Shannon asked suddenly and Gabriella almost choked on the mouthful of food she was chewing.

"Shannon, one more comment and you're going to your bedroom," Sara warned seriously, watching as Gabriella flushed a bright shade of red.

"He so is, look at her blush," Allie whispered to Shannon.

"She wants to kiss him... She wants to hug him... She wants to love him," Jordynn chanted, as she bounced in her seat.

"Jordynn!" Sara scolded. "One more word from any of you and you'll be going to your bedrooms."

The girls sheepishly looked at their mother and then to Gabriella before bursting into giggles. Gabriella, still blushed a deep shade of red from Jordynn's comment, looked down at her plate in attempts to hide her face. Chad just rolled his eyes at his sisters and Allie before digging into his food once more.

"So Gabriella," Mr. Danforth began, gaining Gabriella's attention, "I wanted to compliment you on those cookies. Sara put some in my lunch today, and eating them was the highlight of my day."

"Thank you Mr. Danforth," Gabriella said, slightly embarrassed that so much attention was still on her.

"Those are the BEST. I have the most amazing roommate, I tell you," Chad gushed, wrapping his arm around Gabriella's shoulders. "By the way Gabs, how come they're all gone?"

"Um," Gabriella looked up uncertainly at Shannon and Allie who were watching her intently with giddy smiles, "I took them over to Troy's today," she admitted softly.

"Hoops got all of MY cookies!?" Chad exclaimed incredulously. "I can't believe he could eat that many."

"That many and more," Gabriella told him. "I taught him how to bake them," Gabriella added quickly as Chad looked a little confused.

"Hoops baked?" Chad asked in disbelief, as Gabriella nodded. "You know, I'll never forget when I walked in his kitchen once when we were in junior high, and he was wearing an apron that said 'Mommy's little helper' as he helped Mrs. B. cook dinner. Trust me, that was hilarious."

The girls giggled at Chad's story and the mention of Troy once more.

"I know. He wore it today," Gabriella said, selling Troy out.

"He did?! Did you get a picture?" Gabriella shook her head. "Dang. We'll have to get him to wear that again."

---

After they were finished with dinner and everything was put away, Gabriella found herself in the Danforth living room with Chad's family as they sat around playing Pictionary.

Gabriella glanced down at her phone that had been buzzing all night as it buzzed once more. Trying not to draw too much attention to herself, Gabriella pulled it out and read the text there.

_So bored. What r u doin? U should come keep me company._

Gabriella felt a grin tug at her lips. He had been texting her nonstop since dinner, and each time he brought a smile to her face. For the past few hours, he'd been relentlessly trying to convince her to hang out.

_Sorry, we r playin Pictionary. Trust me, Chad needs me on his team. ;) _

Quickly sending off the text, Gabriella put her phone back in her pocket and tried to focus on the game, but found she couldn't as her phone buzzed once again.

_Haha that is prob true. Chad cant draw 4 his life. U know u want 2come over tho. I have cookies. :) _

Gabriella giggled at his text, quickly typing her response.

_I would, but I cant leave in the middle of the game. U could come join us. Pictionary pro?_

"Gabs, your turn," Chad informed her, tossing her the pen. Gabriella stood up and grabbed the card, looking at the object to draw.

'Dinosaur?' Gabriella sighed, drawing quickly as Sara signaled for her to go.

"Dog!" Chad called out excitedly and Gabriella shook her head.

"Cat! Cow! Horse! Duck!"

"Duck? Seriously Chad?" Shannon laughed at her older brother.

"What? It could be a duck."

Gabriella shook her head, feeling her phone buzz again and ignoring it, before crossing out what she'd drawn and re-drawing a dinosaur, this time with a much longer neck.

"Giraffe!" Chad called out excitedly, and Gabriella brought her hand to her forehead. "Well what else has a big, long neck? Oh! Dinosaur?"

"Yes!" Gabriella cried out in relief, tossing the pen on the table and making her way back to the couch.

"Good job teammate." Chad gave her a high-five, as Gabriella couldn't resist smiling at how proud her best friend looked.

Remembering that she got another text, Gabriella pulled her phone out again.

_I would join u, but I dont want to crash family time. _

Gabriella shook her head at his lame excuse.

_And I'm family? Try again Troy._

Chad glanced at Gabriella seeing her huge smile as she texted.

"Who are you talkin to Gabs?"

"No one," Gabriella lied, not wanting to start the fangirl moments with Shannon and Allie.

"Yeah right," Chad called her on her lie, a grin on his face as he watched the game continue.

_Ok fine. I cave. I want 4 it to be just me and u. Come on, we can watch Titanic or some other girly movie. _

Unable to help it, Gabriella giggled at Troy's suggestion, gaining Chad's attention once more. Chad leaned over her, knowing she was distracted and glanced at her phone.

"Oh so THAT'S who you're texting," Chad chuckled as she dropped her jaw and playfully shoved him away before replying.

_U know Troy, if u wanted to watch Titanic, you can do so without me. _

Gabriella bit her lip unconsciously as she read Troy's reply a few seconds later.

_Ha ha. Very funny. Truth is I just want to hold u like earlier. _

Her heart beat faster as she read over the text once more, immediately recalling how it felt earlier that day as his arm wrapped around her as they watched the movie. A huge smile erupted on her face at the memory that didn't go unnoticed by Chad who was still watching her out of the corner of his eye.

As Gabriella sent her reply to let Troy know she'd text him when the game was over and maybe come over then, Chad watched her facial expressions. All along he'd thought that Troy and Gabriella just had innocent little crushes on each other, but based on the talks he'd had with both of them and the look on Gabriella's face at that moment, Chad knew things were much more serious than he thought.

--

When the game ended an hour later, Gabriella said goodnight to everyone before making her way upstairs to go to bed. Realizing she was too tired and needed sleep, Gabriella quickly texted Troy letting him know the game was over but she was tired and would see him the next day.

Tossing her phone on her bed, Gabriella changed into her pajamas and made her way back over to the bed, just as her phone began to ring.

Gabriella knew that a huge smile erupted on her face as her stomach flipped seeing Troy's name flash across the screen.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Troy's smooth voice came over the phone. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"Oh, no," Gabriella replied quickly. "I was just getting ready for bed. Sorry I couldn't make it over tonight."

"Hey, it's no big deal. We can hang out tomorrow. I just missed you is all," Troy admitted shyly, not meaning to confess the last part.

Gabriella felt butterflies erupt in her stomach as her smile grew even wider, before she sat down on the bed.

"I missed you too," Gabriella confessed back shyly, knowing how true that statement was.

"Well, I will let you get some sleep. Wouldn't want you all grouchy when we hang out tomorrow," Troy teased her.

"Hey! I wouldn't be grouchy."

"Right, I'm mixing you up with Chad."

"Common mistake. I mean, we look so alike," Gabriella responded sarcastically, Troy bursting into laughter at her comment.

"Yeah, something about the eyes," Troy joked. "Anyways, I'll call you tomorrow. Sweet dreams Ella."

"You too, Troy. Night."

As Gabriella shut her phone and climbed under the covers, she took a deep breath as she realized what she needed to do. There was no denying that she was falling for Troy too, and she wasn't going to screw up her chances with him. She couldn't wait to be free to be with him, and as much as she didn't want to hurt Patrick, she had made her decision.

The past few days, she'd only been putting off the inevitable. But now that her decision was completely clear, she was determined to do the right thing. She was going to get ahold of Patrick first thing in the morning. Her future with Troy was all that mattered to her now.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: **Hey everyone Rin here! Yes i know its been forever since i've been the one to upload, but all is good and im finally feeling better. We all want to thank you for the reviews on the last chapter. And now for the LONG awaited chapter, ENJOY!

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All I Want

Gabriella had once again had a restless sleep, and once again it was due to her thoughts being clouded by Patrick, though this time she was worried about how she was going to break up with him.

Was she to tell him about Troy? Or just skip over that detail and tell him what she had come to realise about their relationship?

Neither seemed the best idea. She would be hurting Patrick if she told him that she was falling for another man, but on the other hand, if she wasn't to tell him, then he would eventually find out anyway and be hurt that she hadn't been honest with him from the start.

After waking numerous times during the night having had dreams about Patrick's different reactions to her breaking up with him, Gabriella finally awoke a little after 5am, from a dream about kissing Troy and she knew that even though it was only 7am for Patrick, she had to ring and catch him before he headed to the lab for the day.

Reaching for her phone and dialing a familiar number before she held the phone to her ear, feeling her heart pound as she waited for the well-known voice to answer on the other end?

"Hello? Patrick speaking?" Gabriella wasn't surprised that even thought she had woken him up, which she knew from the sleepy voice, Patrick still answered the phone in his professional manner.

"Patrick, it's Gabriella," Gabriella's voice shook as she spoke and she took a few deep breaths while she waited for Patrick to answer.

"Gabriella, I got your message last night, I was going to call you this morning to see if everything was alright," Patrick answered, not even noticing his girlfriend's uneasiness.

"Actually everything isn't alright," Gabriella said, willing her voice not to quiver as she spoke.

"What do you mean?" Patrick asked and Gabriella took in another big breath, knowing she needed to say what she had to say quickly, without Patrick getting the chance to interrupt, as he seemed to do all too frequently.

"I need to talk to you about us. It's just not feeling how it used to be, Patrick. I thought we were just having a tough spot and if I waited it out things would go back to feeling right again, but they haven't," Gabriella said, her voice soft but strong.

"Okay," Patrick started, but Gabriella cut him off.

"And then I came here, and I met Troy, and I realised that things aren't going to get better between us. I think we should break up."

"So you're breaking up with me for this Troy?" Patrick asked, shock laced in his voice, he never suspected Gabriella would find another man to date.

"I'd be doing this whether Troy was in the picture or not, things between us have been slowly been getting worse, we've been drifting apart for a long time now, Patrick, you can't tell me you haven't noticed," Gabriella was sure to reinforce that Troy was not the reason behind their break up, she didn't want him to be seen as a rebound guy, or her as a cheater.

"I see," Patrick replied. "Well I guess we haven't been in contact as much as we used to, with me being busy in the lab all the time and you with your studies," Patrick concluded.

"See Patrick. You think all there is to life is school and studying, but there's so much more out there, and Troy has made me realise it, I'm sorry," Gabriella said sincerely.

"Don't be sorry, Gabriella, this is not your fault, it's something out of our control," Patrick stated. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I need to get to the lab."

"Okay Patrick, I guess I'll talk to you later, bye," Gabriella said a little sad at how he just brushed her off, once again, for his lab, even though she had just broken up with him.

Patrick didn't even say goodbye and as the dial tone hit her ears Gabriella felt a huge wave of relief rush over her. She had done it. She had broken up with Patrick, and now had no reason to feel guilty when she was with Troy.

Troy.

Gabriella's heart pounded at the thought of the blue eyed man.

Relocating her phone which she had tossed to her bed Gabriella's fingers flew across the keypad, typing out a short message for Troy to read when he awoke, it simply read "_I broke up with Patrick. Call me_."

Gabriella bit her lip nervously as she sent the message, wondering about Troy's past, if this was all a game to him, to get her to break up with her boyfriend and then lose interest in her once he could have her.

But as she thought back to the day before and how truly happy Troy looked, Gabriella decided that it was fairly possible that Troy did like her, whether he could have her or not.

Snuggling down into her blankets again Gabriella drifted into a peaceful, dreamless sleep, clutching her cell phone tightly in her right hand.

Her cell phone buzzing insistently in her hand woke her just over three hours later, at almost 9.30am.

Sleepily she pushed "answer" without checking the caller i.d.

"Are you decent?" Came a voice.

"What?" Gabriella replied sleepily, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Can I come up and say good morning? I've just snuck off to the bathroom, I was having breakfast with Chad when I decided that I wanted to see you instead," Troy said quietly and Gabriella giggled.

"Yeah I'm decent," Gabriella replied. "Did you get my text?"

"I did, we'll talk about it in a few seconds, I'm on my way up," Troy said quickly before he hung up, shoving the phone back in his pocket before he took the stairs two at a time, reaching the room Gabriella was in a few seconds, just like he had promised.

Knocking softly on the door twice before he let himself in Troy was greeted with the sight of a pajama bottom and singlet clad Gabriella, standing next to the bed stretching.

In a split second Troy crossed the room, gathering her in his arms in a tight hug.

"So I can now do what I please with you?" He whispered cheekily into her curls.

Gabriella pulled away from him slightly, curious as to what he meant by the comment.

"That depends what you," Gabriella was cut off by Troy's lips brushing gently against her own, one of his hands gently stroking her cheek as the other wrapped around her waist, drawing her tighter to him.

"That, lots and lots of that," Troy replied, pecking her lips again as she giggled.

"As much as I love doing that," Gabriella smiled, "Chad is going to be wondering where the heck you got to.

"Let him wonder," Troy replied with a smirk, dipping his head again, this time skimming his lips up Gabriella's jaw til he reached her ear, nudging it slightly with his ear, sending sparks down Gabriella's spine.

"Troy," she managed to get our, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Mmm?" Troy mumbled into her skin.

"We were going downstairs?" Gabriella asked and Troy shook his head against her own.

"Nope," Troy wrapped both his arms around her waist snuggly as if he needed to have some form of contact with her body. "The Danforths got you last night, I'm sure it's my turn."

"You want Chad to come and find us?" Gabriella teased, knowing that while Chad approved of their relationship, he was still very protective of Gabriella.

"Doesn't the door have a lock?" Troy mumbled, tracing his finger gently across Gabriella's forehead, down her nose and then across her lips, caressing them softly.

"Nope," Gabriella whispered sadly, shivering slightly as Troy moved his finger to trace over the pulse in her neck. "But can you imagine if Chad came to find you and we were in here with the door locked?"

Troy grinned at the thought. "He'd kill me."

"And we can't have that," Gabriella replied with a small nod.

"So we have to go downstairs or Chad will kill me?" Troy asked with a puppy dog expression.

"You got it," Gabriella reached back and unhooked Troy's hands from her waist. "But I need to take a quick shower so you go down now."

"Be really quick?" Troy asked and Gabriella nodded her head making Troy smile before he turned and left the room.

As soon as he closed the door Gabriella felt a huge smile cross her face, any doubt she had in her mind that Troy wouldn't be interested her now things were over between her and Patrick was long gone, and Gabriella felt happier than she had in days.

Practically skipping over to find some clothes for the day Gabriella wondered if she'd get more alone time with Troy that day, the idea of sharing him with Chad seemed much less appealing than it had in the previous days, and she secretly hoped Taylor would be joining them to distract Chad a slight bit.

Having the fastest shower of her life, Gabriella found herself back in her bedroom, brushing her curls in under ten minutes when her phone beeped from where she'd left it on her bed.

_I thought u said u would b quick? Chad isn't as pretty as u to look at._

Gabriella's fingers flashed across the keypad as she typed her response, a smile playing across her lips as her heart hammered in her chest.

_Down in a sec. And I'm gunna tell Chad you said he wasn't pretty._

Gabriella kept her phone in her hand as she turned around to look at herself in the mirror, checking she wasn't going to walk downstairs without pants on or something stupid. Satisfied she was dressed and decent, Gabriella headed downstairs.

When she got to the kitchen Troy smiled at her and waved her over.

"We're gunna make pancakes for breakfast, okay?" He asked her as she joined him, their hands brushing against one another's.

"Okay," Gabriella replied. "Do you bring your apron with you?"

"Not funny, Ella," Troy warned as Chad and Taylor burst out laughing and Troy turned to them. "I'm going to burn your guys pancakes on purpose."

Gabriella playfully slapped Troy on the arm and he tried to look innocent at her.

"It's your fault they're laughing at me," he pouted and Gabriella rolled her eyes. "And you can't make fun of my apron, you couldn't even get dressed when I came up to see you this morning."

Chad choked on his coffee and Troy realised what he said.

"Let's just get cooking? I'm starving," Gabriella announced and Troy nodded, turning to the pantry to find the ingredients.

Together Troy and Gabriella made a batch of chocolate chip pancakes, none of which Troy was allowed to burn and twenty minutes later the foursome were sitting at the table happily munching on their breakfast as they chatted.

Chad nudged Taylor and pointed his head in the direction of Troy and Gabriella.

Troy was feeding Gabriella a bite of pancake and they were not so subtly holding hands on the table top.

"Oi, lovebirds, some of us want to keep their breakfast down over here," Chad exclaimed, watching the two blush and stare at Chad.

"Chad," Taylor scolded and Chad smiled even more.

"Hey, I'm not the one who went to see my girlfriend who wasn't dressed," Chad remarked, making Troy and Gabriella blush even more.

Taylor rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "You're making them embarrassed," she stated.

"They're bringing it upon themselves," Chad exclaimed.

"Are not," Troy retorted.

"You are too," Chad fought back.

"Now would be a good time for us to clean up, Chad," Taylor interrupted. "Troy and Gabriella can go and wait for us in the living room or something?"

Troy quickly stood from the table, pulling Gabriella up along with him as he shot Taylor a thankful look before leaving the room with Gabriella close behind.

"I really don't like sharing you," Troy announced as he sat down on the couch, pulling Gabriella down with him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"That makes you selfish, I believe," Gabriella teased as she lent into Troy's embrace.

"I don't care," Troy said with a soft laugh. "So I was thinking, me and you, dinner and a movie tomorrow night?"

"A date?" Gabriella stuttered and Troy nodded his head.

"Yes, now you're free, I can take you on an official date, away from cookies and Chad," Troy teased.

"Then I accept," Gabriella turned to Troy, letting him place a soft kiss on her lips before she cuddled back into his side.

"Then it's a date," Troy confirmed, hugging her tighter.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hey everyone, Stace here with my very first author's note! Sorry for the late update, both me and Rin are sick, and Corii has been at work all day, so another group effort chapter, with special help again from Kirs! We're loving the reviews, they're making us laugh and keep us motivated when we think we're just too exhausted to finish up a chapter. I'm a bit of review freak so I check constantly for new ones lol, but I'm not sure that Corii and Rin are quite that obsessive.... Enough rambling from me, here's chapter 18, we hope you all enjoy it!**

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All I Want

Gabriella stood in front of the mirror smoothing out her clothes trying anything she could to keep her mind off her nerves. She didn't know why she was so nervous, it wasn't any different than when she and Troy hung out by themselves.

"You look great Gab."

She turned to see Chad leaning against the doorframe with a smile on his face.

"Thanks Chad." She smiled at him, "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

Chad laughed, "At first not really, but it seems that you two can't help but attract one another." He walked over to her and hugged her, "Plus whatever makes you happy, makes me happy."

She wrapped her arms around his torso hugging him back tightly, "Thank you."

"Knock, knock."

Both turned around to see Troy standing there with a black button down shirt, dark washed jeans, and a pair of converse. "Are you trying to steal my date Chad?" Troy playfully asked.

Chad laughed, "Well she's just so loveable."

"Don't I know it." Troy mumbled to himself as his eyes raked down her body taking in her appearance, "Are you ready to go Ella?"

Gabriella smiled, "Yeah." She grabbed her light jacket off the bed before walking over to Troy letting him wrap his arm around her.

"Don't keep her out too late Troy." Chad chuckled.

Troy rolled his eyes before ushering them both down the stairs and out the door to his awaiting car. "So I'm taking you to this real fancy restaurant. Hope you don't mind?"

Gabriella shook her head as she wasn't able to trust her voice. At this point he could have told her he was going to take her in a field and kill her, and she wouldn't care.

---

Gabriella laughed as they pulled into the nearest McDonalds, "Oh my, this is fancy."

Troy smiled at her, "I know I had to make the reservation in advance."

"You only asked me yesterday"

Troy opened her door, "Well I'd made the reservations months ago, I only asked you because I was running out of time to find someone."

"Oh, so I'm second best?" She got out giving him a playful smirk.

Troy's face became serious before dropping a soft kiss on her forehead before whispering, "Never."

Gabriella's breath caught in her throat as his lips brushed across her forehead a second time before he turned to the counter.

"What super fancy meal will you be having tonight, Miss?" He asked with a wink.

Five minutes later and the pair were sitting with their meal at a table away from the rest of the people who were eating. Gabriella picked up a French fry from her packet and Troy opened his mouth, pointing at her to instruct her to feed him.

Gabriella slipped the fry into his mouth and his lips closed down on her finger, kissing the tip before he chewed, quickly repeating the actions to Gabriella, smiling as he soft lips closed down on his finger.

Giggling she picked up her burger, taking a bite and savoring the flavor as she chewed slowly, as she went to take another bite she looked up to see Troy watching her.

"What?" She asked, wiping her hand across her mouth. "Do I have sauce on my face?"

"No," Troy answered with a smile. "You're just…"

"Just what?" Gabriella asked softly, her heart pounding as she took in his serious expression.

"Beautiful. You're absolutely beautiful. I can't believe I'm sitting across from you on an official date," Troy said softly, reaching out for her hand and lacing their fingers together.

Blushing, Gabriella looked down at the table, biting gently on her bottom lip as she tried to stop herself from squealing at his adorable confession.

"Sorry," Troy muttered. "I lack a filter between my brain and my mouth sometimes."

"It's okay, Troy. I uh, it's really sweet when you say things like that," Gabriella confessed, looking back up at him and squeezing his hand lightly.

Troy smiled at her, "Good, because it drives me crazy to keep it bottled up." Troy finished up his last bite, "So you ready to go?" He stood and held out his hand to her.

Gabriella nodded her head while chewing her last bite before standing up and intertwining their fingers. She giggled as Troy practically drug her out the door in excitement.

Gabriella and Troy walked down the street hand in hand, with Gabriella leaning into Troy to keep warm.

"So what movie are we going to see?"

"Actually I made a change in plans if that's ok?" Troy asked, glancing down at her.

"Sure," Gabriella said softly as they continued walking.

"I just have to stop by the truck real quick and then we'll be on our way," Troy told her, leading her down towards where they parked.

Troy pulled out a backpack that was behind his seat and grabbed a thermos that was on the floor, before slinging the bag over his shoulder and wrapping his arm around Gabriella's shoulders, pulling her into his side.

Five minutes later, the two were walking through the local park. Troy found them a spot on a patch of grass and pulled a few blankets out of his bag. He spread a large blanket out on the grass and placed the thermos on top of it before taking another blanket out of his bag.

With the blanket in hand, Troy walked towards Gabriella who had been standing to the side, watching him amusedly. Troy brought his arms around her shoulders and draped the blanket across them, before pulling her into his chest and taking in her scent.

After a few moments, Troy pulled back, his hands still rubbing up and down her back. "Want some hot chocolate?"

"Hot chocolate, huh? You planned this out well," Gabriella grinned, following him over to the blanket where they both sat down and Troy poured them each a cup of hot chocolate.

"Well I hope it's all okay. Most girls I've ever taken out would think McDonalds and hot chocolate in the park account for an extremely lame date, but from what I know about you, you are nothing like that."

"Not at all. You could have baked us mac and cheese as we hung out at your place, and I'd still love it," Gabriella admitted, pushing aside all thoughts of Troy being so much more experienced in the dating arena then she was.

"Dang, I knew I should have stuck with my first plan. And here I spent all that money on a fancy dinner for us. Next time…," Troy teased her, chuckling as he heard her soft giggles.

"We can do that for our second date then," Gabriella teased back, her hand immediately going up to her mouth as she realized what she'd said. Gabriella screamed at herself on the inside for suggesting that Troy would want to take her on a second date.

Noticing her panicked look, Troy reached his hand over, softly taking hers away from her mouth and stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. "Maybe for our third date," Troy sent her a smile that made her heart speed up, "I already have our second one planned out."

Gabriella blushed and averted her eyes to her lap, Troy's words making her insides twist in anticipation. Here she was thinking she was being too presumptuous, and he was already one step ahead of her.

"You okay?"

Troy's soft, caring voice brought her eyes back up to his.

"Yeah," Gabriella managed to say, looking at his face that was lit by the moon. "Third date?" She asked nervously.

Troy didn't answer but instead leaned closer to her, rubbing his nose against hers before capturing her lips. They pulled apart a few seconds later, and Troy leant his forehead against hers, watching as her eyes slowly fluttered open.

Troy kissed her gently once more before pulling her down with him, allowing her to snuggle into his side as she laid her head on his chest, his right arm wrapped around her back, drawing invisible circles there while his left hand was intertwined with hers.

"So," Troy whispered, causing her to tilt her head up to look at him, "I wanted to bring you out here so we could just talk, because we never really got the chance and I want to know everything there is to know about you."

"Everything? Do we have enough time for that?" Gabriella asked cheekily, earning a chuckle from Troy.

"Okay, well maybe not everything," Troy said, brushing his lips against her forehead, "First pet?"

"First pet?" Gabriella asked, surprised that was his first question.

"Yep," Troy grinned cheekily at her.

"Okay…," Gabriella paused for a second before continuing, "Seymour."

"Seymour?" Troy chuckled. "And what was Seymour?"

"My pet goldfish. My dad won him for me at the fair when I was five. So what about you?"

"Dude. Golden retriever when I was three."

"His name was Dude?" Gabriella giggled.

"Yeah, I named him myself. At the time I only knew a few words…food, dada, momma, and dude were the main ones. It stuck."

Troy smiled as Gabriella began to laugh, feeling her laughter against his chest.

"Okay, next question. Favorite childhood memory?"

Gabriella sighed, immediately thinking of the one to share, the memory being one of the last ones involving her whole family.

"When I was seven, we went on a family vacation. My dad and mom both took the week off work and took me down to Disneyworld for the week. I'd never been before, and that's still the only time I've ever been. But that week was filled with memories that always stand out to me."

Troy glanced down, trying to look at her face. "If you don't mind me asking, where's your dad now?" He asked hesitantly, hoping she wouldn't get upset at him for asking.

"He passed away in a car accident on his way to work one morning, not too long after that," Gabriella told him, her chest still hurting as the memory was brought up.

Noticing how serious she got, and how quiet she became, Troy brushed his lips against the top of her head, pulling her more into his side. "I'm sorry I brought it up," he apologized sincerely, his lips brushing her head as he spoke.

Gabriella shook her head, not wanting Troy to feel bad. "It's okay Troy. It was a long time ago. I don't mind talking about it, really." Gabriella wrapped her arm around Troy more tightly, hoping to reassure him. "So what about you? Favorite childhood memory?"

"You're gonna laugh," Troy told her, lightening the mood. "It was the summer after second grade. Taylor had just moved to town that year and she was in our class. We were having a summer pool party, and Chad wanted to look good for her, since he had a crush on her. Well, she didn't really like his hair too much, and Chad was convinced if he cut it, then she'd like him too. But, his mom wouldn't let him cut it."

"Oh no," Gabriella muttered, holding in her laughter as she knew where the story was going.

"Oh yes," Troy laughed. "So, being his best friend, I cut it for him."

Gabriella could no longer control her laughter, as she burst into fits of it. "What'd it look like?"

"It was shorter for sure. I'd cut all but a few patches off. His mom walked into the room and saw us, and we were both in so much trouble," Troy finished, joining Gabriella as he laughed at the memory. "There are pictures somewhere."

"Oh, I definitely need a copy of those," Gabriella giggled some more, shivering slightly before Troy immediately covered her more and rubbed her back in attempts to warm her up.

Troy sighed, looking down at the girl snuggled in his arms, her face glowing with laughter. "You're so gorgeous," Troy whispered, unable to hold back his confession. "I can't believe I'm on a date with such an amazing girl."

"You can't believe it?" Gabriella muttered, glad Troy couldn't see her blush at that point.

"Yeah," Troy sighed, hearing what she said. "When I came home for break, I never expected to meet someone like you, someone that I'd come to care so much about so quickly."

Noticing Gabriella's silence and feeling her remove her hand from his, Troy worriedly glanced down at her, hoping he hadn't said the wrong thing.

"Ella," Gabriella brought her eyes up to Troy's. "You okay?"

Gabriella looked nervously down at her fingers, "Yeah, It's just," She sighed, "It's just that I didn't think this would happen either. And, I've never felt this way, not even with Patrick. And, there's the fact that if something did happen with us, I'm still going from one long distance relationship to another."

Troy took a deep breath, taking her hand once more in his and lacing his fingers through hers. "It's not as long distance," Troy tried to appease. "It's not across the country. If both people are willing to make the effort, it can work. And hopefully I don't offend you by saying this, but Patrick's a jerk. To have a girl as amazing as you, and not make the effort to be with you…well he definitely doesn't deserve you."

Gabriella felt her breath catch in her throat at his confession. "So this isn't just a Christmas fling for you?" Gabriella asked nervously.

"Hell no," Troy answered quickly, shifting her so he could prop himself up on his elbow. Troy brought his hand up to Gabriella's cheek, his thumb brushing across her cheek and lips.

Gabriella saw the sincerity in his eyes at that moment, and words were no longer needed. Tentatively she leaned forward, capturing his lips with hers, her hand wrapping around his neck, as his cupped her face.

Slowly, Troy lowered them back to the ground, both of them knowing that even though their future was still uncertain, they were right where they wanted to be.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Corri here. Here's another chapter for you guys! Only 6 chapters left, which means Christmas is sooo close. I'm excited, I don't know about all of you. Anyways, hopefully you enjoy this chapter. Let us know. We really do love your reviews. Stacey wasn't lying. I actually check throughout the day too. I confess, lol. **

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All I Want

Gabriella had one of the best night's sleep of her life once Troy had taken her home after their date. Her dreams were filled of memories from the date—his jokes, his laughter, his caresses, his questions, his answers, all the little kisses he had snuck and the growing in passion kiss they had shared on the Danforth's doorstep when he brought her home.

She awoke to the soft sun rays peeking through the window and with a smile on her face. Reaching for her cell phone she flipped to the pictures she had taken of Troy the night before. He was most certainly gorgeous, and although he had an air of sureness about himself he wasn't arrogant about it, and for that Gabriella was glad.

Exiting from her pictures and opening up a new text message Gabriella quickly typed a good morning message and sent it to Troy before gathering some clothes and heading to take a shower.

The plan for that day was to go shopping with Chad and Taylor to get the last of the Christmas shopping done. Gabriella didn't enjoy shopping very much, she'd never understood how people could try on a hundred different articles of clothing or look in every shop in the mall, it seemed pointless to her.

She was fairly certain though that Taylor didn't seem like the overly enthusiastic shopper either, so she decided it was safe to ask her to help find a Christmas present for Troy.

After a quick shower, Gabriella dried herself and got dressed, brushing her damp curls and leaving them to flow over her shoulders before she headed back to her room, jumping in shock a little as she entered and saw Troy relaxing on her bed.

"Morning," he said with a soft laugh, taking in her surprised expression. "Glad you're dressed this time."

"You scared me," Gabriella scolded lightly, heading towards the bed and settling herself down next to Troy, reaching up to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. "But good morning."

"So I was thinking, after shopping today, we ditch Chad and Taylor?" Troy suggested as he gently played with her curls, hearing Gabriella sigh in contentment.

"And do what?" Gabriella asked, not caring what they did, as long as they were together.

"I have no idea. I don't really mind what we do, I just want to spend as much time with you as humanly possible," Troy confessed.

"What a coincidence," Gabriella giggled, tilting her face to look up at Troy. "I want the same thing."

"Glad we're on the same wavelength then," Troy whispered before he dropped his lips down to meet Gabriella's, kissing her slowly and drawing her closer to him as he did so.

"Get your tongue outta my best friend's throat!" Came a voice from the hallway and the pair broke apart sheepishly.

"Which one are you talking to, exactly?" Asked Taylor causing Chad to shrug.

"Whoever had their tongue in the most?" Chad guessed and Taylor slapped his shoulder.

"Dude, that just sounds really gross," Troy piped up. "And haven't you heard of knocking?"

"He has, Troy. He just forgets to put it into practice," Gabriella teased, smiling at Chad who poked his tongue out at her.

"Burn," Troy called out to Chad before kissing Gabriella once more. "Nicely done, Ella."

"If you two are done being all gross and mushy now, we should hit the mall before it gets busy," Chad complained from the doorway.

"We'll be downstairs in a minute, I want a few more seconds with my girl before I have to share her with the two of you," Troy said, not looking up at Chad and Taylor, but keeping his gazed fixed on Gabriella to test her reaction to his words.

"Okay we can take a hint, but hurry up," Chad and Taylor closed the door behind them leaving the pair alone for a few more minutes.

"Your girl, Bolton?" Gabriella teased, reaching a hand up to caress his cheek.

"Yeah, my girl," Troy teased back. "Unless the girl objects?"

Gabriella shook her head gently from side to side as she lifted herself up slightly to be able to reach Troy's lips. Troy gently slid his tongue across Gabriella's bottom lip, begging for entrance which she quickly granted.

Her heart raced as Troy's tongue tangled with her own, his hands shifting to her lower back, pulling her tightly against him as she moved so she was straddling one of his legs.

Reluctantly, Troy pulled away from Gabriella, watching her eyes flutter open, and her slightly swollen lips open as she inhaled much needed oxygen.

"No objections," Gabriella confirmed as Troy drew her into his embrace, inhaling her scent as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

"We should probably go downstairs before Chad comes back up to annoy us again," Troy pointed out unenthusiastically.

"Probably," Gabriella confirmed, making no move to get up off Troy.

"That means you have to get up off me," Troy pointed out teasingly.

"Nah," Gabriella replied, snuggling closer.

"Fine," Troy shifted til his feet were touching the floor before he moved Gabriella so she was cradled in his arms and then he stood up. "Need anything before we go downstairs?"

"My phone," Gabriella pointed to her bed and Troy leant down so she could pick it up. "And my purse."

Once Gabriella had retrieved everything Troy carefully carried her downstairs, placing her in his lap as he sat down on the couch across from Chad and Taylor.

"Ready to hit the mall?" Taylor asked and the other three nodded. "Okay, let's go!"

"Gabriella and I will go in my car, okay Ella?" Troy asked. "That way we can do whatever once we've finished shopping."

"Okay," Gabriella agreed, happy she'd get an extra twenty minutes alone with Troy. "Is that okay with you guys?"

Chad and Taylor confirmed they were fine with it and the foursome got up to leave with Troy wrapping his arm around Gabriella's waist as they walked outside.

---

An hour later and the four had gone two separate ways with Taylor and Gabriella going to find gifts for the boys, and Troy and Chad to find gifts for their girls.

"So you and Troy seem to be getting along really well," Taylor pointed out to Gabriella as they entered a cd store.

"Yeah," Gabriella replied bashfully.

"So are you two officially together now?" Taylor asked, and Gabriella shrugged her shoulders as she flipped through some cds.

"Not officially, but I don't think either of us have to say it. We talked last night about the distance between our schools, and Troy was adamant that we'd survive a long distance relationship."

"That's really great. I've known Troy for a long time, and he's never looked at someone the way he looks at you, Gabi," Taylor said with a smile.

"Nobody has ever made me feel the way he makes me feel, Tay," Gabriella confessed. "When I see him I can forget about everything else in the world."

"Honey, I know how you feel, that's what I have with Chad," Taylor replied.

"Speaking of Chad, what are you getting him for Christmas?" Gabriella asked.

"I've already got him a new watch, I just need to find him some of those slogan t-shirts he likes to wear," Taylor answered. "Are you getting Troy something?"

"Yeah, he was mentioning a new cd this morning that he plans on getting after Christmas, so I'm going to get him that, and something else to go with it," Gabriella blushed. "I know we've only been on one date, but I know this is serious."

"Any idea what else to get him?" Taylor asked and Gabriella shook her head. "What about something to remind him of you while you're both at school?"

"That's a great idea, Tay," Gabriella exclaimed as she found the cd Troy had mentioned to her. "And here's the cd."

"Let's go get that, I have an idea for what else you can get Troy," Taylor said with a smile, following Gabriella to the counter.

"Thanks for you help, Tay," Gabriella said, she now knew why her best friend raved about his girlfriend so much, she was a great person, and Gabriella was finding their friendship was developing quickly.

"Anytime, honey."

---

Meanwhile Chad and Troy were looking in a jewelry shop for Chad's present to Taylor.

"That one?" Troy pointed at a ring that in all honesty looked the same as the hundreds of other rings on display.

"Nah, not that one," Chad said. "Who knew jewelry shopping was so hard?"

"What about a bracelet? My Mom got my cousin one of those Pandora bracelets, they look pretty cool," Troy pointed out the bracelets and charms in the case.

"They look really… pretty?" Chad said. "I think I'll get her one, and then I can get her charms for her birthday and stuff."

"Good idea," Troy said, turning away from where Chad was now looking at the charms to look at something that had caught his eye earlier

Deciding that Chad was sufficiently distracted Troy quickly made his purchase, stuffing the box into his hoody pocket before wandering back to Chad who had selected a silver bracelet with four charms, a "T", a "C", a small heart and a little book.

"Nice work dude," Chad said. "Now are you getting Gabs something?"

"Would a teddy bear be too cheesy?" Troy asked worriedly. "I wanna give her something to remind her of me while we're not together."

"Stepping on my territory with the stuffed animals there, Hoops. That's what I always get Gabs," Chad teased.

"Yeah, but you get her the weirdest looking ones you can find," Troy reminded him. "Mine will be somewhat normal. So answer my question, is it cheesy?"

"It's cheesy, but it just might work," Chad said, sounding thoughtful as he nodded his head. "Let's go find one."

As the pair worked Troy decided to take this chance to talk to his best friend about how he was really feeling.

"Did Ella tell you where I took her last night?" Troy asked casually.

"Yeah she said to McDonalds and the park? That's like her dream date, something small and intimate," Chad said with a smile, surprised that Troy seemed to know Gabriella so well already.

"Yeah that's what I figured she'd like. We talked a bit," Troy trailed off.

"About?" Chad prompted as they entered a small toy shop and headed towards the stuffed animals.

"The future. If we can make this work being at different schools," Troy said nervously, as he picked up a few teddy bears and examined them.

"And you think you can do it?" Chad asked, picking up a teddy and offering it to Troy.

"Most definitely. And this is the perfect one," Troy said with a huge smile.

"Awesome, you go and buy it, and I'll ring Taylor, see if they're done shopping yet," Chad said with a nod, taking out his cell phone and walking off to call Taylor.

---

Once the four had met back up again, Taylor and Chad quickly excused themselves, heading towards Chad's car, making Troy and Gabriella laugh at their enthusiasm to be alone.

"They must love being together again," Gabriella said softly as they waited in line at the smoothie place, Troy's arm snug around her waist, their purchases have been taken to the car before they decided that they wanted a smoothie.

"Yeah, it must be hard not seeing the one you love all the time," Troy replied sadly.

"You really think we can do it?" Gabriella asked, knowing Troy's comment was intended to be referring to both them and their friends.

"Of course, we'll have internet and the phone, and then breaks together, and think about how we'll have the perfect excuse to spend endless days together when we get the chance," Troy replied, kissing the top of her head gently. "We can do it, El."

"Good, I think we can manage it as well," Gabriella replied, glad that she wasn't alone in her thoughts about their relationship.

"I'm glad we're in agreement," Troy teased as they stepped forward to place their orders.

A few minutes later and they were wandering back through the crowded mall with their smoothies.

"You know, I was so upset when my Mom told me that she was busy over Christmas, but now I'm so glad that she was," Gabriella confessed.

"I'm glad that she was too," Troy replied happily. "I'm also glad that I forgave Chad for breaking my favourite toy car when we were six, otherwise I wouldn't be his friend and we never would've met."

Gabriella slapped Troy lightly on his shoulder. "You're so lame."

"I'm you're lame?" Troy stuttered, realizing it hadn't worked out how he had planned.

"That doesn't make sense," Gabriella laughed.

"You don't make sense," Troy retorted as they reached Troy's car.

"Shut up," Gabriella laughed, reaching up on her tip toes to kiss Troy gently.

"If you're gunna reward me like that I might never speak again," Troy winked as he held open her door so she could slip into the car.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Stace here, again. Here's chapter 20, we're drawing to a close with this story now *tear*. For once, I don't have that much to say... so! Here is the next chapter! Don't forget to keep those reviews coming!  
**

* * *

All I Want

After returning from their day of shopping, Troy dropped Gabriella off at the Danforth house and she went inside to wrap her presents, as Troy took his to his own house.

Gabriella had to dodge Chad the moment she stepped inside since he immediately began to pester her about what she got him. Gabriella distracted him with the thought of cookies before darting upstairs and locking the bedroom door, just in time to slam the door in Chad's face.

Despite his persistence, Gabriella quickly wrapped all of the gifts she'd gotten, hiding them in her bags before opening the door and heading downstairs.

"Finally, I can relax," Gabriella sighed, plopping down on the couch next to Chad and propping her feet up on his lap.

Chad playfully glared at her before turning his attention back to watch Frosty the Snowman on TV. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang, and Chad lifted Gabriella's legs off of him before going to answer the door.

"Dude, why didn't you just come in?" Chad groaned, and Gabriella tilted her head to look towards the doorway to see who it was.

"Cause I wanted you to get off your lazy butt and come answer the door?"

Gabriella's ears perked up as she heard the smooth voice that made the butterflies erupt in her stomach. She felt her heart speed up as Troy stepped into the house, his piercing blue eyes connecting with hers and he winked at her, sending her a knee-weakening smile.

Troy kept his eyes on her, not paying attention to Chad who had just let him in. Troy made his way towards her and sat next to her on the couch, immediately leaning over to brush his lips against hers.

"Hey Ella."

"Hey. For someone who said they were slow at wrapping gifts that was pretty quick," Gabriella told him, crossing her legs beneath her on the couch as she turned to face him, no longer interested in the movie.

Troy grinned, standing up and moving around her before sitting with his back against the armrest, his legs on either side of her as he pulled her back into his chest. "Well, I may have recruited my mom to help wrap some gifts."

"You had your mom wrap your gifts?" Gabriella asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"She offered," Troy shrugged, lacing his fingers through hers and settling them against her stomach. "The moment that I mentioned I was coming over here to see you after I was done, she rushed over and started wrapping gifts for me. Who was I to refuse her voluntary help?" Troy asked with a cheeky grin.

Gabriella tilted her head back to look at Troy, closing her eyes in contentment as he kissed her forehead.

"Plus, I get to spend more time with you, so I'm not complaining," Troy added softly, kissing the top of her head and resting his cheek there.

"Ugh, if you two are gonna do that all night, I'm going to go get Tay," Chad complained from his seat on the recliner that he was now occupying since Troy took his seat.

"Well, if you want me to stop kissing my girl, you can forget about that idea. So, I say, go get Tay," Troy told him, before leaning down to kiss Gabriella's cheek, his fingers playing with hers.

"I'll be back then," Chad commented, quickly leaping up from his seat, and rushing towards the door while speedily texting his girlfriend.

Troy and Gabriella watched as Chad rushed out the door. "Alone at last," Troy whispered in Gabriella's ear, kissing her earlobe before moving his lips to hers, passionately kissing her.

Gabriella moaned softly, adjusting her position so she was now almost facing him, Troy immediately placing his arms under her legs and lifted her onto his lap, their lips still attached.

Just as Troy's hands began to softly caress her sides, the two jumped apart, hearing some giggles.

They tilted their heads and glanced at the culprit, spotting a very giggly Jordynn standing in the doorway.

"Gabi and Troy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," the little girl chanted, causing both of them to blush.

"Someone say Troy?!" A giddy voice said coming from the kitchen.

Troy groaned, his head dropping to Gabriella's shoulder. "Man, not tonight," Troy grimaced, as Gabriella fought back her laughter, being very amused by the situation.

"Hi Troy," Shannon giggled as she stepped into the room.

"Hey Shannon," Troy responded politely, his hands interlocking around Gabriella's waist.

Shannon's eyes drifted from Troy to Gabriella, who was still sitting on Troy's lap, her hands resting on his shoulders. To both of their surprise though, Shannon smiled at the two.

"So you two are together now?"

Troy nodded, leaning forward to gently kiss the side of Gabriella's head.

"You guys are SO cute! Well, I'll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing," Shannon told them with a knowing smile, before darting back into the kitchen, dragging a giggling Jordynn with her.

"And I half expected her to cry and get all jealous of you," Troy said after they walked away.

"Me too," Gabriella admitted. "Does it bug you having a fanclub?" Gabriella asked cheekily.

"Well, it's not my favorite thing. Does it bother you?"

"No. Shannon and all of her friends are so much younger than you. Plus, I don't think you go for the fangirl type anyways," Gabriella teased, her hands interlocking around his neck.

"Nope, only you Ella," Troy whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. "Only you."

Gabriella felt her insides melt at his words, and she quickly threaded her fingers through his hair before pulling his face towards hers, their lips connecting in a passionate kiss. The two were so caught up in it, that they didn't hear the door open, nor did they notice the two people that walked into the room.

They broke apart though at the sound of a throat clearing, Troy immediately turning to glare at Chad, who he knew was the culprit.

"I told you Tay!" Chad gloated, his hand laced with Taylor's as he dragged her towards the recliner before pulling her into his lap. "They've been all over each other for the past hour."

"Leave them alone Chad," Taylor scolded, smiling encouragingly at Gabriella.

"Forgive me for not wanting to see my two best friends making out," Chad scoffed playfully, rolling his eyes at his girlfriend before kissing her cheek, hoping she wouldn't get mad at him.

Troy chuckled at how whipped his friend was, and then turned his attention back to the girl in his arms. "So Ella, what do you think of going on our second date tonight?"

"Our second date? Where are we going?" Gabriella asked curiously, resting her head against Troy's chest as he leaned back on the couch.

"Movie under the stars?" Troy said, in more of a question.

"And how are you going to pull that off Mr. Bolton?"

"They do it at the local park once a month. You bring your own blankets and food, but they also sell hot drinks and popcorn and stuff. You up for it?"

"That's tonight?" Chad asked, butting into their conversation.

"Yeah, it is," Troy answered and turned his attention towards Chad.

"Mind if we come?" Chad questioned, his hand rubbing slowly up and down Taylor's arm.

Troy laughed. "So Ella, what do you think about going on a double date?"

"I'd love to," Gabriella giggled, kissing Troy's lips softly.

---

A few hours later, the four pulled up to the local park, both Chad and Troy immediately going to open each of the girls' doors.

Troy took Gabriella's hand as she stepped out of the car, her fingers lacing through his before she followed him around to the trunk. Gabriella reluctantly dropped Troy's hand and instead placed her hand on his back, rubbing circles there as he pulled out a few blankets they'd thrown in, along with his backpack before closing the trunk back up.

"Catch!" Troy yelled after he had tossed a blanket at Chad.

"Thanks man," Chad muttered sarcastically after the blanket had nailed him in the face and had fallen to the ground.

"No problem," Troy grinned, sticking two blankets under his arm, and slinging his backpack over his shoulder before grabbing Gabriella's hand once more, their fingers intertwining as they walked through the park.

Troy laid out one of the blankets on the ground, setting the other on top along with his backpack before kissing Gabriella quickly on the cheek and darting off towards the concession stand to get some food and drinks.

"Dude, I don't think I've seen you this happy in a long time," Chad mentioned to Troy as they waited in line.

Troy glanced back at Gabriella, feeling a smile reflexively form on his face as he watched her chat with Taylor. "I haven't been this happy in awhile. Ella's amazing. I can see now why you were always talking about her."

"Yeah, I knew her and Tay would get along too. I thought Tay would have been upset at me having a girl as a roommate, but she wasn't. Sure she was shocked at first, but once she found out how much Gabs pushed me to study, Tay quickly thought it was a great decision. Figures she would," Chad added with a chuckle before stepping up to the concession stand, the two quickly buying some snacks before making their way back to their girlfriends.

"Hot chocolate?" Troy asked with a grin as he handed Gabriella a cup of hot chocolate and placed the bag of popcorn and his hot chocolate down on the blanket, before settling himself down next to Gabriella.

After sitting down, Troy pulled a small pillow out of his backpack, and set it behind him while smoothing out the blanket that was bunched at their feet.

"Look at you all prepared," Gabriella said, impressed at Troy's thoughtfulness.

"Well we need to be comfortable. Plus I need to secure a third date, so I gotta keep you happy," Troy winked at Gabriella, and a slight blush formed on her cheeks as she looked away, not wanting Troy to see. She was about to grab a handful of popcorn to distract herself, but was stopped as Troy placed his hand on her wrist.

"Wait, hold up," Troy said, while digging into his backpack with his other hand. A bright smile was painted on his face as he pulled out a box of Reese's Pieces. "This makes it so much better," Troy told her, pouring the box into their bag of popcorn and quickly shaking the bag before holding it out to her.

Gabriella shyly smiled and dug her hand in, pulling out a handful and tossing it in her mouth. Troy watched as a satisfied smile made its way onto her face.

"See? Good yeah?"

"Amazing," Gabriella admitted, eating a little more.

After both had eaten enough popcorn, Troy placed his arm around Gabriella's waist, pulling her into his chest while grabbing the blanket and covering them both up as they lay down.

Gabriella snuggled her face in the crook of Troy's neck, reaching up to brush her lips against his jawline before lacing her fingers through his.

"You warm enough?" Troy asked caringly, his hand rubbing up and down her back.

"Mhmm," Gabriella sighed in contentment, breathing in Troy's scent that she loved. "Thanks for bringing me out here. This is a great idea."

"Yeah, well, I hadn't planned on our second date being a double date, but Chad would have given me crap if I told him he couldn't come," Troy chuckled.

Gabriella giggled, lifting her head slightly to glance over at Chad and Taylor who were snuggled similar to them, as they waited for the movie to start.

"It's nice though. And they look like they're having a good time," Gabriella said before averting her eyes back to Troy, her chocolate brown eyes looking down into his piercing blue ones.

"You okay?" Troy asked, since she was quiet.

Gabriella nodded, with a content smile. "Yeah, I was just thinking how many girls would kill to be in my position, being here with you."

Troy smiled at her, leaning up to give her a sweet kiss. "Believe me, guys would kill to be here with you too. You really don't give yourself enough credit Ella," Troy brought his hand up to cup her face. "You are so gorgeous," he whispered, stroking her cheek gently.

Hoping he couldn't see her blush or hear her heartbeat race, Gabriella leaned down, placing her lips on the corner of his mouth for a few moments.

As she went to pull away, Troy moved his hand around to the back of her head, pulling her back down towards him before capturing her lips with his in a slow, passionate kiss that had both of their heads spinning.

The two didn't even pull apart as the movie started, each of them still lost in each other, and only parting when Chad cleared his throat loudly next to them. Troy pulled away from Gabriella reluctantly, chucking a piece of popcorn at Chad's face and glaring at him before grasping Gabriella's hand in his and guiding them both back to the blanket.

As 'A Christmas Story' played on the screen and many people focused their attention on the movie, Troy and Gabriella found that their minds were furthest from the movie. Gabriella's fingers slowly moved up and down Troy's chest and his hand moved up and down her arm, both of them snuggled closely together, with nothing but each other on their minds.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Stace here, again, again. A little more of a serious chapter this time, but still filled of the fluff that everyone seems to be enjoying! Chapter 22 AND 23 are underway right now (aren't we clever writing two chapters at once) so hopefully we'll be updating a little earlier these last few days of the story. Enjoy this chapter, and don't forget your lovely reviews :)  
**

* * *

All I Want

Troy woke the morning after their second date to the sound of his cell phone ringing. Silently cursing whoever was calling him he rumbled on his bedside table for the offending object.

"Hello?" He asked sleepily, hearing a soft giggle on the other end.

"Don't tell me you were still asleep!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"It's still the middle of the night, Ella," Troy groaned, burying himself back under his covers.

"Troy, it's almost lunchtime," Gabriella giggled and Troy flipped over to look at his alarm clock, seeing that she was indeed right.

"Wow," Troy said simply. "You mean I've been asleep and you've been awake and all alone for these past few hours?"

"Something like that," Gabriella replied, twisting one of her curls around her finger.

"Come over?" Troy asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Aren't you getting sick of me yet?" Gabriella asked, half serious, she didn't want to spend so much time with Troy that he grew tired of being around her before their relationship really took off.

"Never. Not if I live to be three hundred years old," Troy announced, causing Gabriella to burst into giggles again. "I have to shower, but come over in twenty minutes?"

"Sure, Chad has gone out with Taylor again, so I had nothing planned anyway," Gabriella teased. "See you soon."

"Bye Ella," Troy said softly, unable to help the smile the settled on his face.

Gabriella ended the call, getting up from the kitchen table where she had just been reading the newspaper and putting her coffee mug in the dishwasher before heading upstairs to brush her teeth and get ready to go over to Troy's.

Just as she was brushing her curls Gabriella's cell phone started to ring and she snatched her phone up, answering it without looking at the caller id.

"I'm not late, Troy," she teased, expecting Troy to be on the other line, complaining that he was bored of waiting for her.

"Troy? Gabriella it's Mom," Gabriella felt her heart sink at the sound of her Mom's voice when she had just used her new boyfriend's name in her poor excuse for a greeting.

"Hey Mom," Gabriella said as she sat down on her bed.

"How are you doing? Who is this Troy?" Maria asked curiously.

"I'm doing great, the Danforth's are lovely to me, I feel right at home here," Gabriella answered, purposely avoiding her Mom's second question.

"That's great to hear, Gabi, and Troy?" Her Mom insisted.

"Troy is… well Mom, don't freak, please," Gabriella begged.

"You're still with Patrick aren't you?" Gabriella knew how much Maria loved Patrick, he was like a son to her.

"Not exactly…" Gabriella trailed off.

"Not exactly? How can you not exactly be with your boyfriend?" Maria exclaimed.

"Mom, I got here, and Chad's best friend Troy is home for Christmas as well, and he's lovely and he treats me really well, and well, I'm not with Patrick anymore," Gabriella started, rambling as she tried to make her Mom understand that her decision hadn't been rash.

"You're with Troy instead?" Maria interrupted. "Gabriella, are you telling me that you're throwing away a perfect relationship with Patrick, for a fling?"

"Mom! Troy is not a fling, and my relationship with Patrick was far from perfect," Gabriella reasoned, looking at her watch and realizing she was ten minutes late meeting Troy.

"You never told me this before, Gabriella. I thought you loved Patrick," Maria asked in shock, not believing that her normally logically thinking daughter would throw away something that was so good for her.

"I did Mom, but when I met Troy I realised that what I had with Patrick was barely more than a great friendship, he never made me feel how Troy does," Gabriella explained, knowing she wasn't going to convince her Mom.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Gabriella," Maria lectured unhappily.

"I do, Mom. But I have to go, Troy's expecting me, and I don't want to worry him, I'll call you tonight?" Gabriella said, trying to cut the conversation short.

"I think this is a bad idea, Gabriella. You're going to go back to school, and this Troy is going to break your heart, I just know it," Maria predicted, not hearing the soft sob that escaped Gabriella.

"Bye, Mom," Gabriella said quietly, ending the call before she hurried out of her room, down the stairs, through the front door and across to Troy's house, ringing the doorbell before waiting impatiently, the tears flowing freely now.

"You're late," Troy started with a teasing tone that instantly turned serious when he noticed that Gabriella was crying. "Ella, what's wrong baby?"

Ushering Gabriella inside and into the living room he sat down, letting her crawl into his lap, burying her face into his neck as she sobbed.

Troy bit down on his bottom lip in sadness as he rubbed his hands up and down Gabriella's back in a bid to calm her down.

"Shh, baby," he soothed. "It's okay."

Five minutes later Gabriella was calm enough to talk. Furiously wiping her eyes on the back of her hand Gabriella started to tell Troy what had upset her.

"My Mom called," she started.

"That's good," Troy replied, but Gabriella shook her head.

"Let me talk Troy, please," she begged. "My Mom called, and I thought she was you…"

When Gabriella had got to the story out about her conversation with her Mom, including the end about Troy breaking her heart once they were back at school she was in tears again and Troy had lay down on the couch, Gabriella settled gently atop him, his arms around her waist as her tears dripped down onto his t-shirt.

"Baby, your mom just cares for you. She doesn't know me yet—that I'm a strapping young man who won't hurt her only daughter," Troy said with a grin, smiling as he felt Gabriella's laughter vibrate against his chest. "What?"

Gabriella lifted her face from its place in the crook of his neck, looking up at him with an amused look despite her still tear-stained cheeks. "Strapping?" Gabriella asked giggling.

"Isn't that the word you'd use to describe me?"

"Something like that," Gabriella giggled, snuggling back into his chest before her giggles subsided, suddenly wanting to ask Troy something. "Troy?"

"Hmm?" He asked, rubbing her back gently.

"You think we can really do this? I mean, I want to," she added quickly, not wanting to upset him. "But I just broke up with my boyfriend of four years partly because we couldn't make it work with the distance."

"The distance between USC and Stanford is only a few hours, I'll be able to come and see you at least one weekend a month, I promise you," Troy said sincerely.

"Promise is a big word," Gabriella said nervously, having had many promises to her broken by Patrick."

"I keep my promises, Ella," Troy cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs stroking over her tear stained cheeks. "I promise that I'll visit you often, I'll call you every night. I promise you that one day, we'll own a house with a white picket fence and we'll have the 2.5 kids that every couple dreams about."

"We're going to have a problem there," Gabriella said softly, her red rimmed eyes sparkling as she spoke.

"Oh yeah, why's that?" Troy asked, unable to resist placing a soft kiss on Gabriella's lips.

"Because I want three kids," Gabriella whispered, allowing their lips to meet in a slow but passionate kiss.

"I think we can make that one happen," Troy confirmed as they broke apart. "What about jobs? You're going to be a much loved chemistry teacher?"

Gabriella nodded. "I've dreamed of being a teacher since I was a little girl," she confirmed. "And you'll be a world famous sports reporter?"

"I hope to be, but I think it's a little too early to be confirming our jobs and how many gorgeous kids we'll be having. You haven't had to deal with my annoying habits yet, you might be running for the hills soon."

"Annoying habits?" Gabriella questioned with a smile.

"Yeah, you see, I have this habit, where…" Troy trailed off for a second, before placing a kiss upon her lips. "I. Can't. Stop. Kissing. You."

Each of Troy's words were punctuated with a kiss and Gabriella was giggling against his lips by the last kiss.

"Somehow I don't think that will have me running for the hills," Gabriella giggled, twirling Troy's hair gently in her fingers.

Suddenly another voice was added to the mix. "Troy? Are you down here?"

"Yeah Mom," Troy called out, holding Gabriella's hips in place as she tried to get off from her spot on him.

"Your Dad is bringing pizza for lunch, do you want some? Oh hello Gabriella," Lucille smiled warmly. "Are you staying as well, dear?"

"She is Mom," Troy answered as Gabriella nodded softly, confirming his answer.

"Here, you tell your Dad what the two of you want," Lucille handed the phone to Troy and he placed his order before asking Gabriella what she wanted and relaying it to his Dad.

When he'd hung up the phone and pulled Gabriella back down to him Troy laughed gently.

"What is it?" Gabriella asked softly, feeling her eyes drooping at the feel of Troy playing with her hair.

"My parents are going to love having lunch with you. Mom has talked about nothing other than you since you were over here the other day and she has my Dad all eager to meet you too."

Gabriella's face paled, meeting Troy's parents. Officially.

The thought scared her, but Troy's lips brushing against her forehead distracted her thoughts enough to calm her, the butterflies quickly returning at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.

"Come on," Troy encouraged, moving Gabriella off him and then wrapping an arm around her waist when they were both standing. "Don't be worried."

Troy led Gabriella into the kitchen, pulling out a chair for her and the settling himself into the chair closest to her, taking her small hand in his before he shot her a smile.

"Troy, couldn't you even get plates ready?" Jack Bolton scolded his son as he entered the kitchen with the pizza boxes in his arms. "Oh hello, you must be Gabriella."

Gabriella blushed and nodded. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Bolton."

"It's Jack," he corrected, placing the pizza boxes on the counter. "Troy, plates."

Troy sheepishly got up from the table, getting out plates and glasses for the four of them before returning to the table where Lucille had stolen his seat.

"Mom, I was sitting there," he whined, not wanting to have to sit away from Gabriella.

Lucille looked over at Gabriella before smiling knowingly, getting up to give her son his seat back, giving Jack a I-told-you-so look at the way Troy acted around Gabriella.

"Hawaiian?" Troy offered Gabriella who readily took two pieces and placed them on her plate, smiling back at Troy, both forgetting his parents were there, watching their exchange.

"Thanks," Gabriella replied, blushing lightly as Troy took her hand that was resting next to her plate.

"So Gabriella, Troy tells us you go to Stanford with Chad?" Jack asked, watching Gabriella nod as she had a mouthful of pizza. "And what's your major?"

"Chemistry," Gabriella answered after she swallowed her mouthful. "I want to be a chemistry teacher."

"Dad's a teacher," Troy pointed out. "He teaches gym at my old high school."

"Teaching's a great job, it's very rewarding," Jack commended, deciding not to frighten the girl off with his horror stories from his years of teaching.

"Ella will make a great teacher, she taught me to make cookies the other day," Troy boasted.

"Those were some great cookies," Lucille acknowledge, smiling brightly at Gabriella.

"Thank you, Troy did most of the work though, he's good at following my instructions," Gabriella shot Troy a cheeky smile as she spoke.

"Could you instruct him to put his laundry in the basket, and make his bed, and pick his towel up off the bathroom floor?" Lucille teased and Gabriella and Jack burst out laughing.

"Mom!" Troy scolded, blushing.

"I'll try Lucille," Gabriella giggled, squeezing Troy's hand gently.

"I'm going to take Gabriella up to my room, because I made my bed this morning, and I want to show her I'm not a slob, regardless of what my parents think," Troy announced, standing up and quickly clearing away the plates as Gabriella thanked his parents for lunch.

"You're welcome, dear. We're having a barbeque with the Danforths tonight so we'll see you at dinner," Lucille said as Troy wrapped his arm around Gabriella's shoulder, drawing her into his side as she chatted easily with his parents. "You two are so adorable," Lucille gushed. "Look at my little boy. I never thought he'd look at any girl the way he looks at you Gabriella."

Gabriella blushed, hiding her face in Troy's shoulder and Troy looked up at his mom, also turning slightly red. "Mom," Troy hissed under his breath, his arm tightening around the girl in his arms.

"What sweetie? I think it's adorable. You know," Lucille paused and smiled at Jack, grabbing his hand, "me and your dad were much the same way when we first started dating. I remember the time whe-"

"And I'm going to spare Gabriella from these wonderfully embarrassing stories," Troy interrupted, turning the two of them around and leading her towards his room, grabbing some extra pizza in one hand.

"You two have fun now!" Lucille called out as they rounded the corner.

"I'm so sorry about my mom," Troy apologized as he led Gabriella towards his room.

Gabriella brought her face out of his shoulder, her arm wrapping around his waist as she looked up at him. "Well on the bright side, that wasn't too bad compared to how it may be when you meet my mom."

"Trying to scare me off Ella?" Troy asked amusedly.

"No, but from the way she was talking today, she might," Gabriella admitted, thinking back to her conversation.

Troy stopped them as they walked into his room, setting the pizza on his bed before wrapping both arms around Gabriella's waist. "Ella, I'm not going anywhere," Troy whispered softly before brushing his lips against hers.

"Good to know," Gabriella smiled as they parted, his forehead resting against hers.

"Besides, she can't resist the Bolton charm," Troy winked.

"Who can?" Gabriella giggled, snuggling into his chest.

And Gabriella trusted that he wasn't going anywhere. Despite what her Mom thought, she knew that Troy's feelings were real, and this he'd carry out his promises. It wouldn't be easy being at two different schools, but Gabriella pushed that thought to the back of her mind. They were together now and she was happy to live in the moment.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Stace here again. Wow, look an early update for once :D. This is probably my favourite chapter so far, so I hope you all enjoy it! It's Christmas eve, eve for me today and I've been making Christmas cookies all day, inspired by this story lol. Don't forget to review :)  
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All I Want

Later that evening, Gabriella and Troy sat on the couch in the Danforth living room, cuddled together as they watched a rerun of Friends on TV with Taylor and Chad who were cuddled in the recliner next to them. The four had been hanging out for the past hour waiting for Lucille and Sara to get back from the grocery store so they could all start their barbeque.

Troy found his eyes flickering from the TV to the girl snuggled into his side, one arm wrapped snugly around his waist while a few fingers from her other hand were loosely intertwined with his, her head resting against his chest as she watched TV.

Troy felt his heart swell as he heard her angelic giggles from watching the show. Unable to resist, Troy brought his hand that was settled on her waist up to her hair and began to slowly run his fingers through it. He smiled as he felt her place a kiss on his chest in response before tracing invisible designs on his palm with her thumb.

They were interrupted from their peaceful moment as the door swung open and Chad let out a celebratory cheer.

"Woohoo! Food!" Chad leapt up from his seat, almost knocking Taylor off his lap. Upon realizing what he did, Chad grinned sheepishly at her, kissing her cheek before darting after his mom and Lucille in the kitchen.

"You know, I wonder sometimes if he had to choose between me and food what his decision would be," Taylor commented, re-situating herself in the chair.

"It would always be you babe! No food could compete," Chad yelled from the kitchen before poking his head back to look into the living room, eating a handful of chips. "Not even Gabi's cookies could beat you out in my books, no offense Gabs," he added quickly.

"None taken Chad," Gabriella giggled, watching as he darted back into the kitchen.

"Ooo yes! Cream puffs!"

"Chad Francis Danforth! Out of the food or you won't get any."

The three young adults in the living room laughed hysterically at Chad getting scolded by his mother and at his pouting as he came back into the living room, barely acknowledging his dad and Jack as they walked into the house.

"They kicked me out of the kitchen," Chad whined, helping Taylor up before sitting back down and pulling her into his lap.

"It's a tough world Francis," Troy tried to comment seriously, but failing as he was chuckling under his breath.

"Shut up Archibald," Chad shot back.

"Archibald?" Gabriella asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Chad I'm gonna kill you," Troy threatened, glaring at Chad before turning his attention back to Gabriella. "Yeah, uh, it was my great-grandpa's name," Troy said, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"So, Troy Archibald Bolton?" Gabriella put it all together, an amused smile now stretched across her face.

"Unfortunately," Troy muttered.

Gabriella unsuccessfully attempted to muffle her giggles as she buried her face in Troy's chest.

"I'm glad your amused," Troy laughed, kissing the top of her head.

Gabriella pulled away from his chest, and brought her hand up to run through his black hair that was styled into a fauxhawk. "Hey, at least your middle name's not Francis."

"Oh, it's on Gabs!" Chad said, leaping up from his spot on the recliner and immediately tickling her sides, causing Gabriella to laugh and squirm next to Troy.

"Hey hey hey," Troy scolded, laughing as he shoved Chad's arms off of her. "Get your hands off of my girlfriend."

"Easy there Archibald," Chad laughed, ducking as Troy chucked a pillow at his head.

"Francis, go sit with your girl. Mine is off limits," Troy told him before kissing the tip of Gabriella's nose, sighing in contentment as she placed a kiss on his cheek right after.

----

"Mind if I sit here?"

Gabriella looked up from her place on the grass in the Danforth's backyard to see Taylor standing next to her with two drinks in hand.

"No, I don't mind at all," Gabriella assured her quickly, smiling at her before returning her attention to the basketball court where Troy and Jordynn were playing against Chad and Madison.

Taylor handed Gabriella a cup of soda before settling down next to her, her eyes following Gabriella's towards the game being played. The two girls laughed as Troy lifted Jordynn onto his shoulders who scored the basket before setting her down as the two went into their post score celebration dance.

Chad shoved Troy in the shoulder as he walked by and then quickly threw the ball at Troy, who caught it just in time as it nailed his gut. After checking the ball, Chad passed it to a wide open Madison who sunk the long jump shot.

Madison pumped her fist in the air excitedly, very proud of herself. The young girl beamed as Chad came up to her giving her a high-five and ruffling her hair before the two got back in position.

"So you seem a lot happier these past few days," Taylor said, breaking their silence for the past couple of minutes.

Gabriella tore her eyes away from Troy to look at Taylor beside her. "I am. I can't believe how this all happened, and how I am dating such an amazing guy like Troy right now."

"Well I can tell he feels the same way about you," Taylor assured her, grinning as Troy spun Jordynn around in celebration after they scored another basket before winking at Gabriella.

"I know we just started dating, but things just feel so right with Troy. I mean, I spent years with Patrick. And when I thought about the future, sure Patrick was there, but honestly I was apathetic about it all. A future with him seemed so mundane, but at the time it was all I knew."

"But then Troy walks into the picture," Taylor supplied.

Gabriella couldn't help but smile. "Yes, and now, a future with Troy seems the exact opposite. It's not only exciting. It's something that just seems so right. I feel cared for and adored in a way I never felt with Patrick. And sure, I know he loved me, but obviously there were so many more important things to him. But Troy makes me feel like I'm the most important thing in his life."

"That's really good then Gabi. I'm glad you see that now."

"Yeah," Gabriella commented, deep in thought.

"What's wrong Gabi?" Taylor asked, sensing that she was struggling with something.

"Nothing really. It's just, I really want this to work with Troy, but I can't help but be scared that the distance will be too much. We're just starting out dating, and in a week and a half, I'll be back at Stanford and Troy will be five hours away at USC. "

Taylor looked at the girl sympathetically, seeing just how scared she was about losing Troy from her life, knowing that in itself was a testament to how serious their relationship was becoming.

"Gabi, I'm not going to lie and say this won't be difficult for you both, and you know that. But if you both are willing to make that effort, it can work. Chad and I have been on opposite sides of the country, but we are doing great. Yeah, it's a struggle, but definitely worth it."

Gabriella sighed, her eyes still following Troy who was lifting Jordynn up for a basket. "I want it to work, more than anything. I've already fallen so hard for him, and the thought of losing what I have with him terrifies me. And he keeps trying to assure me that we can make it, and he's so sweet about it all. And for the most part I believe him. I can't help but believe him as it's the only thing I really want right now. But then, there's still this tiny doubt in the back of my mind telling me that I couldn't make it last time, so why would this be any different."

Gabriella finally tore her eyes away from Troy, glancing at Taylor beside her. "Sorry to burden you with all of this."

Taylor shook her head. "Gabi, it's no burden at all," she reassured her with a smile. "And it's normal for you to be thinking these things, and have that slight doubt in your mind. You just got out of a four year relationship that for the past few months has been a long distance one. Of course you'd wonder if this one will just turn out like that. But Gabi you and I both know from the talks we've had that Patrick is far different than Troy. What caused your relationship with him to fail wasn't so much the distance as it was him not taking enough time for you, and the fact that you'd realized you never were in love with him. He was more of a good, constant friend in your life."

"You're right, it was a lot more than the distance. I mean, I made the effort to call him almost every day, but he never reciprocated that effort."

"And Troy will, hun," Taylor told her confidently. "With his friends and his family, Troy always makes the effort for them. Him and his older brother are still close even though they've both moved away from home. Despite going to college out of state, he still has a great relationship with his parents. And you know that he and Chad talk all the time even though they live hours apart. Troy is the type of guy who works to keep those people who are important to him close to him. And I know for a fact that you've quickly climbed to the top of his list in importance. Trust me, that boy is not going to let you slip away from him."

Gabriella felt her heart soar at that thought. Between hearing what Troy had said and now what Taylor had confirmed, Gabriella's doubts were being pushed further from her mind. It was obvious both her and Troy wanted this to happen and wanted it to work, and now she was really starting to trust that fact. They could make this work.

"Thank you Taylor," Gabriella told her sincerely. "I really am grateful for you taking the time to listen to me talk about all of this and then for you assuring me things will be okay."

"Anytime hun," Taylor smiled, wrapping her arm around Gabriella in a friendly hug. "Besides, I need to stay on your good side. Now that you and I talk, you can keep me posted on Chad and help me make sure he doesn't slack off."

"Good point," Gabriella giggled, returning the hug.

"Hey girls," Chad said, he and Troy walking towards them as the game had just finished. "You two talking about me?"

"Now why would we talk about you?" Taylor asked playfully, placing her hands in Chad's as he went to lift her up off the ground. Gabriella averted her eyes from them and looked up at Troy, who was standing beside her, smiling down at her as he began to run his fingers through her hair.

"Because I'm so amazing that you can't help but gush about me to everyone?" Chad responded to Taylor cheekily.

Taylor laughed, slapping Chad on his arm. "You're so full of yourself."

"And you love me for it," Chad smiled brightly, pulling her into his side. "Come on babe, I need food."

"Of course you do," Taylor giggled. "See you two later."

As Chad and Taylor walked off towards the patio for food, Troy moved to stand in front of Gabriella, holding out his hands to her. Gabriella immediately placed her hands in his, allowing him to pull her up and into his chest as his arms circled her waist.

"Have fun spectating?" Troy asked after she tilted her head to look up at him.

"Yeah, did you have fun playing?"

"It would have been more fun if you were out there," Troy charmed leaning down to press a soft kiss to her lips. "Come on, let's go see if you can still make that jump shot I taught you."

Troy smiled encouragingly at her, lacing his fingers with hers before tugging her towards the court, picking up a basketball on the way.

"Alright," Troy said, bouncing her the ball and releasing her hand. "Show me those skills Montez."

Gabriella laughed, holding the ball in her hands and trying to remember what Troy had taught her the week before. She found herself recalling the way he'd placed his hand on hers and remembered the tingles she felt as his warm breath was against her neck.

She jumped slightly as she felt his warm hand trail up her arm, coming to rest on the hand that was holding the ball. "Good, that's how you hold it," Troy whispered against her neck, his front pressed against her back. "Now, what's next?"

With Troy behind her, his right hand on hers and his left on her waist, while his warm breath was on her ear, Gabriella found it difficult to concentrate. Slowly she bent her elbow so her forearm was perpendicular to the ground and then she brought the ball to be positioned above the center of her forehead.

"Good," Troy praised her, his thumb drawing small circles on her waist. "Now what?"

Gabriella felt his hand trail from her hand down to her waist, before gently tugging downwards in a helpful hint for her to bend her knees, which Gabriella did right away.

"Perfect," Troy breathed out, kissing the back of her neck, smiling against her skin. "Now shoot."

Gabriella could barely see straight, let alone shoot a basketball, due to the sensations Troy was causing in her. Not even caring anymore, Gabriella threw the ball towards the hoop, and immediately spun around in Troy's arms, tangling her hands in his hair and pulling him into a kiss, not even noticing that the ball sailed past the basket missing it completely.

Troy smiled into the kiss at first before, pulling her body even closer to him as he allowed her to deepen the kiss. Gabriella moaned softly, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck as she felt his dance across her lower back.

"Hey, hey, hey! No making out at FAMILY barbeques!"

Troy and Gabriella reluctantly pulled apart at the interruption, Troy glaring at Chad while Gabriella buried her face in his chest in embarrassment.

"Shut it Chad!"

"And with parents and children here too, shame!" Chad yelled back, grinning cheekily at them before wincing as Taylor smacked the back of his head.

Troy laughed before glancing back at Gabriella whose bright red face was hidden in his chest. Troy smiled, placing his fingers under her chin and tilting her face up towards his.

"You're so cute when you blush like that," Troy whispered, kissing her softly. "Come on, let's go get some food and then we can kill Chad."

"Can we kill him first? Then there will be more food for us."

"I like the way you think Montez," Troy smiled, his hand wrapping around her shoulders and hers around his waist as they made their way towards the patio.


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Stace here yet again. So a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! to those on my half of the world who will be celebrating Christmas tomorrow! I know I'm super excited, I'm driving everyone insane with my inability to sit still and concentrate, but heck, I'm allowed to be excited :). This is the 3rd to last chapter for our story, and we hope you enjoy it! Don't forget your lovely reviews!  
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All I Want

Gabriella giggled at the look of concentration on Troy's face. It was December 23rd, and they were having their third official date.

Troy's parents had gone out for the evening, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and so they had the house to themselves for the entire night.

"Troy? How hard is it to make mac and cheese?" Gabriella asked as she slid up next to him, slipping an arm around his waist.

"Making mac and cheese is an art, baby," Troy said seriously, his brow still furrowed as he read the instructions again.

"You want me to go watch TV so I don't distract you?" Gabriella kidded, giggling as Troy's look turned to one of horror.

"Heck no! You're all mine tonight, and I'm not letting you leave my side," Troy hoisted Gabriella up onto the counter with ease, settling himself between her legs, his arms wrapping around her waist as hers wrapped around his neck.

"Good, it's right where I want to be," Gabriella whispered, leaning forward until her lips brushed against Troy's, his tongue snaking out to slide between her lips as she let out a soft mewl of satisfaction.

Troy's hands slipped under the material of her t-shirt, his hands holding onto her sides, stroking her stomach with his thumbs.

Realizing that air was becoming a problem, Troy broke the kiss, instead attaching his lips to the soft skin of Gabriella's neck. Sucking lightly, Troy smiled against Gabriella's skin as her hands pressed against the back of his neck, keeping his head in place.

Troy nibbled, licked and sucked at Gabriella's skin until the sound of a phone ringing filled the room.

Growling deep in his throat Troy stalked across the kitchen, answering the phone grumpily.

"Hello? Yeah she's here. Okay… Yeah… Mom! I'll see you tomorrow," Troy hung up the phone, spinning around to a curious looking Gabriella.

"Didn't your Mom like just leave?" She asked with amusement. "And do I have a mark on my neck?"

Troy crossed the kitchen back to her, lifting her tiny hand off her neck where it was resting.

"Um, are you going to hurt me if I say yes?" Troy asked and Gabriella shook her head. "Then yes, you have a mark."

"Ugh, Troy!" Gabriella scolded lightly. "Now what did your Mom call for?"

"Just to tell me that as part of her present Dad got them a night away in a hotel. He didn't tell me because apparently I can't keep a secret," Troy pouted and Gabriella giggled, dipping her head to kiss him lightly.

"Aww, poor Troy," Gabriella giggled. "So they're not coming home tonight?"

"Nope, I can have you here as late as I feel like it," Troy embraced her again, pulling her towards the edge of the counter before their lips met in another heated kiss.

Gabriella loved how alive she felt when Troy kissed her, from a simple kiss on her forehead to a make out session in his kitchen, it made her entire body tingle, it made her never want to let him go, and most of all, it made her want to believe, more than ever, that he would keep his promises.

As their lips slowly broke apart, Troy rested his forehead on Gabriella's own, breathing deeply as he watched her dark eyes flutter open.

"You really are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen," Troy whispered, rubbing their noses together gently.

The pair stayed in their embrace for a few more minutes before Troy kissed Gabriella lightly on the lips and moved back to the packet of mac and cheese.

"Troy, you just gotta add butter and milk," Gabriella pointed out with a giggle. "Maybe you need to be wearing your apron to be a master chef."

Troy pointed his finger warningly at Gabriella, trying to look stern. "If you mention that apron again, I… I… I won't kiss you again tonight!"

The weak threat made Gabriella laugh even harder, and she jumped off the counter and made her way over to Troy, wrapping her arms around his neck as his instinctively wrapped around her waist, drawing their bodies closer together.

"But you look so cute in that little apron," Gabriella whispered as she raised herself up, kissing Troy softly, and not feeling him kiss back.

Taking one hand to wrap loosely in his hair, Gabriella pressed her lips to Troy's again, this time tracing his bottom lip with her tongue. Troy let out a soft groan before gripping her hips tightly, returning the kiss with an unrestrained passion. Their kisses continued to get heated and hands were roaming as they got lost in the moment.

But it soon stopped as Gabriella's stomach growled. Troy pulled away from her, pecking her lips as he saw her blush of embarrassment.

"We'd better get some food in you, yeah?" Troy kissed the top of her head. "We can continue this later."

Gabriella hid her face in his chest, knowing her cheeks turned even redder at his words and the feelings they provoked.

"Okay, now we need butter and milk, so I'll get the ingredients, and you get me a measuring cup for the milk from that cupboard over there?" Troy suggested, pointing at a cupboard on the other side of the kitchen.

Gabriella nodded, untangling herself from Troy and going over to the cupboard to retrieve the measuring cup. She grinned, recognizing that the drawer beside it was the one that Lucille had gotten the aprons out of.

Quietly pulling it open, Gabriella found the item she was looking for and walked back over to where Troy was standing with his back towards her, measuring out some butter.

"Thanks babe," Troy said as she set the measuring cup on the counter beside him. Gabriella smirked, unfolding the apron and looping it around his neck. "You didn't," Troy groaned playfully.

"I did," Gabriella smiled back, spinning Troy around and pulling the apron around his neck before tying it around his back. "There, now you can cook."

Gabriella playfully pinched his cheek and kissed his jaw line, her amused smile growing even wider.

"You're lucky you're cute," Troy told her, kissing her nose softly before turning his attention back to cooking.

Gabriella watched as Troy measured out the milk before adding it to the saucepan that contained the butter and mac and cheese mixture, his look of concentration on such a mundane task amused her and he looked over at her giggling.

"What's so funny, baby?" Troy asked, his voice laced with confusion. "Because _you_ put the apron on me, remember!"

"Not the apron, though that's amusing," Gabriella replied before gesturing to the saucepan Troy was now stirring on the stove. "The look of concentration when you're making mac and cheese."

"I told you, Ella. Mac and cheese is an art! You can't just not concentrate," Troy protested, making Gabriella giggle more when she realised he was serious.

"Sorry," Gabriella said through her giggles, opening her mouth to speak, but the sound of her cell phone ringing distracted her.

Snatching up the phone Gabriella looked at the caller id, shocked to see it was Patrick.

"Patrick," she mouthed to Troy before answering the call. "Hello, Patrick."

"Hello Gabriella," came his reply, his formal tone making Gabriella cringe as her eyes lingered on Troy who was watching her with interest.

"Hey…" Gabriella couldn't think of anything to say to her ex-boyfriend, suddenly needing to have Troy close to her she looked at him pleadingly and he quickly crossed the room, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back to his front.

"How are you?" Patrick asked simply and Gabriella wondered if she should tell him the truth, that she was with Troy.

"Um, I'm really good, Patrick," Gabriella stated, leaning more into Troy's embrace. "How are you?"

"I'm good, getting really far on my research," Patrick stated and Gabriella stifled a giggle at how important his research was to him.

"That's really good," Gabriella commented, entwining her fingers with Troy's and resting their hands back on her stomach.

"I just want to apologize for cutting our last conversation short. I was overwhelmed and frustrated with lab work, but I just want you to know that I still care for you as a friend," Patrick said sincerely.

"I care for you too, Patrick. You're one of my best friends," Gabriella replied. "We both know that it was for the best."

"It was. So how's things with Tony?" Patrick asked and after a second of confusion Gabriella realised who he was talking about.

"Things with _Troy_ are good, um I'm with him right now," Gabriella said uneasily, not wanting the statement to sound like she was throwing it in Patrick's face.

"I'm glad to hear that Gabriella. I have to be heading to bed now, early start in the lab, I really just called to wish you a happy Christmas," Patrick said, his tone unchanged at the news that Gabriella was with her new boyfriend.

"Thanks Patrick, the same to you, don't work too hard in the lab," Gabriella joked, even though she knew Patrick wouldn't take it as a joke.

"I will make sure I don't, good bye Gabriella," Patrick said, a smile in his voice which made Gabriella feel good about their conversation, knowing she hadn't hurt him with the news that she was with Troy.

"Bye Patrick," Gabriella echoed before she ended the call, tossing her phone to the table before turning in Troy's arms to place a kiss upon his lips.

"You okay?" Troy breathed as they broke the kiss and he led her to the stove where he went back to stirring their dinner.

"Yeah, I'm okay. That went a lot better than I expected, he was fine with the news that I was with you," Gabriella stated in slight disbelief. Even though she hadn't wanted to hurt him with the comment, she was hurt herself that he hadn't even flinched at the thought of her being with someone else.

"Good," Troy said simply, shooting her a megawatt smile that made her melt. "Do you wanna grab a couple of plates and some soda?"

Gabriella nodded, standing on tip toe to place another kiss on his lips - simply loving how at ease she felt with their effortless acts of affection – before she went to get the items he had asked for, settling them on the table, watching as Troy bought the saucepan over, spooning the mac and cheese onto the two plates before he returned the saucepan to the counter.

As Gabriella went to sit down Troy slipped onto the seat, pulling her down to sit across his lap comfortably.

"Hey you," he whispered gently as he nudged her neck with his nose.

"Hey," Gabriella whispered back, the feel of his breath on her neck sending shivers down her spine.

Troy piled some mac and cheese on a fork, holding it out to Gabriella to eat, hearing her satisfied moan as she tasted it.

"Told you I made the best," Troy boasted softly, winking at Gabriella as she rolled her eyes.

"I never thought someone could actually make mac and cheese that tasted so good!" Gabriella grinned, taking another forkful and feeding it to Troy.

"You underestimated my skills," Troy pouted, holding a hand over his heart in mock hurt.

"Sorry," Gabriella giggled, placing her hand over his as she brushed a kiss against his cheek in apology.

Their dinner carried on much the same with Troy and Gabriella feeding one another, sharing kisses and light banter and thoroughly enjoying their uninterrupted time together.

After the dishes had been loaded into the dishwasher, and the kitchen quickly cleaned the pair were snuggled up on Troy's couch, watching the opening of Titanic.

"If I cry, are you gunna make fun of me?" Gabriella asked, turning slightly in Troy's embrace to look at him.

"Probably?" Troy answered honestly. "But why would you cry?"

"Because Jack dies!" Gabriella exclaimed. "Haven't you seen this movie?"

"A few times," Troy confessed. "But it's a movie, Ella. He doesn't really die, remember."

"But he dies in the movie. And he leaves Rose all alone, and she doesn't want to go back to Cal because he's mean to her, and Jack is so sweet," Gabriella gushed, making Troy chuckle and kiss her gently.

"Let's just watch the movie, huh?" Troy teased. "You little movie freak."

Gabriella snuggled back against Troy, feeling his hand settle on her stomach underneath her t-shirt, his palm rubbing large circles on her bare skin, making it hard for her to concentrate on the movie.

It also seemed a short while later that it had made Gabriella unable to stay awake, for before the movie was even a quarter of the way through she was asleep in Troy's arms, having rolled over to face him in her sleep, her face buried into his chest.

Troy gently rolled her onto her back, brushing her curls out of her face before he caressed her cheek softly. "Ella? Wake up."

Gabriella stirred, but did not wake and Troy tried again, shaking her shoulder lightly this time, watching as her eyes fluttered open sleepily.

"Baby, do you want me to take you back to Chad's?" Troy asked gently, and Gabriella shook her head weakly in response.

"Sleep here?" She muttered sleepily, her dark eyes begging Troy to agree and he nodded his head.

"Of course you can sleep here, gorgeous," he whispered back, placing a chaste kiss on her lips. "Go back to sleep, I'll take you to bed soon."

Gabriella's eyes fluttered back closed, her breathing quickly evening out as she slipped back into a light sleep. Troy shifted off the couch, leaving the room and going to the kitchen to call Chad.

"Hey dude," Troy greeted.

"Yo hoops, what's up?" Chad asked as he pulled Taylor back down to his bed, silently telling her his attention would be back on her before long.

"My parents are away for the night for their anniversary, so Ella is going to sleep over. Well she's already asleep, but yeah," Troy was nervous, knowing Chad would assume he had ulterior motives.

"Sleeping over? She gunna be sharing your bed?" Chad shot back.

"Probably. She's already asleep, Chad. I asked her if she wanted to go back to your house and she asked to stay here," Troy reasoned.

"You two really just going to sleep?" Chad asked suspiciously.

"Chad! We will be sleeping, nothing else," Troy exclaimed, secretly happy that Gabriella had someone to protect her when he wasn't around.

"Alright, well I guess I'll see the two of you tomorrow, but I swear if I hear you've done anything…"

"You'll kill me, I got it Chad," Troy finished. "See ya."

Heading back to the living room, Troy turned off the TV, scooping Gabriella into his arms and carefully carrying her to his room, holding her in one arm as he pulled back the covers and placed her on the bed, covering her and smiling as she snuggled deep into the pile of blankets.

Troy quickly whipped off his t-shirt, leaving his basketball shorts on out of respect for Gabriella. Sliding into his bed he wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling her shuffle closer to him in her sleep, her back fitting perfectly against Troy's front.

Troy's last conscious thought as sleep overtook him was how perfectly she fit into his arms, as if she was the missing puzzle piece in his life. The one thing that made him complete.


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: Corri here. Sorry for the really late update. Today was Christmas Eve for me and Rin, and Christmas for Stacey, so it wasn't the easiest to find time to write this. Hopefully you all enjoy it though. One chapter left after this. *tears*. It should be up at some point tomorrow (or today, since it's 1 am for me). Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy!**

* * *

All I Want

As the sun peeked through the curtains on Christmas Eve morning, Gabriella cracked open her eye to look at the time. Right away she realized that she was not in the room she'd grown accustomed to over the past week and a half.

Feeling warm breaths against her ear and an arm tighten around her waist, Gabriella felt her breath catch in her throat as she suddenly realized where she was. At that moment, she decided she didn't want to move any more. She was feeling so content with Troy holding her as he slept peacefully that she didn't want to ruin this moment.

Stretching her legs carefully, she shifted them so they were right up against Troy's warm ones, snuggling more into him before closing her eyes in contentment and trailing off back to sleep, deciding it didn't matter what time it was. She was in Troy's arms and at this point, nothing could get her to move.

--

Hearing the front door shut, Troy opened his eyes only to be met with a head of brunette hair. Glancing at the clock over on his nightstand, Troy realized it was a little after ten in the morning and the noise downstairs was his parents arriving home.

"Ella," Troy whispered, brushing his lips against the side of her head. "Baby, it's time to wake up," Troy said still in a whisper, propping himself up on his elbow and removing his hand from her waist to slowly brush some stray curls behind her ear.

Troy smiled, watching her eyes slowly flutter open. A grin tugged at her lips as her brown eyes connected with the blue ones that were staring down at her.

"What time is it?" Gabriella yawned, tilting her head back a bit and shifting in his arms so she was gazing up at him.

"10:15," Troy said, bringing his hand up and brushing his index finger down her cheek before covering her lips with his.

"What time are your parents getting home?"

"I think they just got here. You want to get up and go get some breakfast?"

Gabriella nodded, and Troy kissed her forehead before getting up and pulling her up with him.

Twenty minutes later after the two had finished getting ready and had texted Chad about breakfast, Troy laced his fingers through Gabriella's before leading her downstairs.

"Hi Troy," Lucille greeted from her spot on the couch next to Jack. "Hi Gabriella," Lucille said with a knowing smile, struggling to hold in her excitement of seeing the two together.

Troy sent a small smile to his mom before groaning under his breath. "I am so sorry," Troy said, leaning down to whisper in Gabriella's ear.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad," Troy told them once they walked closer. "You guys are back early."

"Well we had to get back and wrap your gifts sweetie."

"Then I thank you for your early return," Troy joked sarcastically causing Gabriella to giggle.

"When did Gabriella get here?"

Troy brought the hand that wasn't in Gabriella's up to rub the back of his neck. "Um, she was here last night."

"So she stayed the night then?" Lucille smiled even more, and Jack flashed a not so secret thumbs-up to Troy.

Troy brought his hand up to his forehead in embarrassment as Gabriella snuggled into Troy's side to hide her flushing face.

"She fell asleep here last night and I carried her upstairs and let her sleep here. That's all we did, I promise," Troy assured them. "And we're leaving now before Mom has a heart attack from her giddiness," Troy added, seeing his Mom's face light up again.

Before giving them a chance to embarrass him any further, Troy tugged on Gabriella's hand and pulled her towards the front door.

"Bye sweetie, have fun!"

Troy raised his hand in a half wave, his back still to his parents.

"Bye Lucille, bye Jack!" Gabriella called out shyly, not wanting to be rude by forgetting to acknowledge them.

"If you would like to break up with me now, I totally understand," Troy muttered as they walked down the sidewalk after shutting the front door.

Gabriella laughed, snuggling into his side and rubbing her free hand up and down his bicep. "No, I like your parents."

"You sure? I promise I wouldn't hold it against you."

"Of course I'm sure. You can't get rid of me that easily," Gabriella spoke softly under her breath.

"I wouldn't ever want to get rid of you," Troy said sincerely, hearing what she'd just said, assuring her of the truth of his words with a soft kiss to her lips.

Troy was about to pull away and walk toward the Danforth house as they were stopped in front of it, but he stopped as he felt Gabriella's hand tentatively move up his chest to the back of his neck, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.

Troy moaned softly into the kiss, wrapping his arm firmly around her lower back and pulling their bodies even closer. After oxygen became a necessity, the two pulled apart, their foreheads resting together.

"As much as I'd love to continue this with you, I think we should do it somewhere more private later on."

Gabriella blushed as she realized that their affection was just on display for the whole neighborhood. Troy smiled at the pink tint to her cheeks, brushing his lips against her forehead before lacing their fingers again and heading into the house.

"Hey guys," Troy said to Taylor and Chad who were seated on the couch in the living room.

"Finally, the two of you stopped making out in front of the neighborhood long enough to come inside so we can eat," Chad exclaimed, causing the two to flush in embarrassment, and earning himself a whack on the back of the head from Taylor. "Abusive woman!" Chad said to Taylor, rubbing the back of his head. "You're lucky I love you."

"No Chad, I think you're lucky that she loves you," Gabriella pointed out.

"Dang, I'm getting ganged up on from every side. Let's go before my stomach protests as well," Chad said, standing up from the couch.

"Chad, your stomach would never protest," Taylor pointed out as she stood up.

"Good point," Chad grinned, before the four made their way out the front door and out to breakfast.

---

"Here's the French Toast for this gentleman, the ham and cheese omelet for this young lady, the pancake breakfast for the other young lady," the waitress set the plates in front of Troy, Gabriella, and Taylor who were all seated around the booth along with Chad who was waiting excitedly for his food, his eyes lighting up as he spied it.

"And we have the pancake breakfast, a side of French Toast, and the biscuits and gravy for the other gentleman," three waiters came over each with a plate setting the pancakes, bacon, French Toast, muffin, and biscuits and gravy all in front of Chad. "Enjoy folks."

"Mmm, I love IHOP," Chad said excitedly as he rubbed his hands together before grabbing the syrup and drenching his pancakes and French Toast in it. After he was satisfied, Chad set the syrup back in the center of the table, and took a huge bite of his pancakes before looking up at the other three at the table, who were watching him amusedly. "You guys gonna eat?"

"We'd better before you eat ours too," Gabriella teased him.

"Seriously man, did you get enough?"

"No," Chad grumbled eyeing his plate of bacon. "I should have gotten sausage too. Hey Gabs, you gonna eat that?" Chad asked, eyeing the sausage on her plate.

"Chad, how you never put on weight from all of that I'll never know," Taylor laughed.

"Get your own Danforth." Gabriella protectively took her fork and placed her sausage close to her, pulling her plate closer as well, as Chad went to reach for it, causing Troy to chuckle.

"Damn," Chad grumbled before shifting his eyes towards Taylor's plate. Slyly, he slid his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side and kissing the top of her head, while taking his fork in his left hand and stretching it out towards the sausage on her plate.

"Ah ah! Don't even think about it Chad," Taylor warned him, slapping his wrist.

"Man, you guys are no fun," Chad grumbled before sticking his fork into his pancakes, taking another large bite.

"Dude how big is your meal plan at school?" Troy asked curiously as he looked over all of Chad's food.

"Not big enough. I live off of Top Ramen and Mac and Cheese at school."

"Mmm, Troy made the best Mac and Cheese yesterday," Gabriella gushed, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand that she was holding at the time.

"Dude! You made Mac and Cheese, and you didn't tell me?" Chad questioned incredulously.

"It was mine and Ella's date." Troy intertwined his fingers with Gabriella's, bringing her hand up to his mouth and softly kissed the back of her hand before settling their hands on his lap.

"I could have chaperoned," Chad suggested with a shrug.

"We forgot a chaperone this time. We'll be sure to hire you on the next date," Troy said sarcastically to Chad, who was barely paying attention, his eyes lighting up as he spied the waitress.

"How's everything going here?" She asked, scanning the table.

"Great, but um, may I please get an order of sausage?" Chad asked politely.

"You want sausage too?" The waitress asked in disbelief as Chad nodded. "How can you possibly fill anything else in your stomach?"

"One of the world's great mysteries ma'am," Troy chuckled, earning a glare from Chad.

----

Around 11:50 that night on Christmas Eve, Gabriella finally made it up to her room to go to sleep. She had spent the day just lounging around the house with Troy, Chad, and Taylor, along with most of the Danforth family. At about 11:40, after finishing up some Christmas cartoons, Chad took Taylor home and Troy had left to go back to his house at which point Gabriella had made her way upstairs.

After getting into her pajamas and getting ready for bed, Gabriella turned off her lights and snuggled into bed, suddenly missing the warmth she'd felt the night before. She was startled out of the thoughts about her boyfriend as she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

Glancing at the clock and seeing it was after midnight, she wondered who it would be as she knew the Danforth family was all asleep and Chad was still taking Taylor home.

She smiled as she saw the door crack open slightly, revealing a head of black hair, out of its usual fauxhawk style as it laid flat on his head. Troy stepped into the room and quietly shut the door before turning back to Gabriella, a huge grin painted on his face.

"Troy," Gabriella whispered. "What are you doing here?"

Troy smiled at her and made his way over to her bed, kneeling beside it and bringing his hand up to brush some curls from her forehead.

"I wanted to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas." Troy grinned cheekily at her, his hand still brushing through her hair.

Gabriella shifted closer, breathing in his wonderful scent.

"Couldn't you do that over the phone?"

"I guess," Troy shrugged, still beaming at her. "But, I also wanted to do this," Troy whispered before cupping her cheek and sweetly kissing her lips.

Troy pulled away after a few seconds, still grinning as he brushed more curls from her face.

"Merry Christmas Ella."

"Merry Christmas Troy."

Troy leaned down to kiss her softly once more before he pulled the covers back a bit and slipped off his shoes.

"Troy, what are you doing?" Gabriella asked softly.

"I wanted to hold you," Troy told her honestly, sliding in underneath the blankets with her.

Gabriella shifted over for him, before rolling back into his side, wrapping her arms around his waist as she laid her cheek on his chest. Troy took a deep breath, his hand dropping to her back to soothingly rubbing it.

"You should get back home before it gets too late, huh?" Gabriella sighed, kissing his chest.

"Nope," Troy breathed out, pulling her closer, intertwining his legs with hers. "I decided last night that I get my best sleep by holding you in my arms."

"Me too," Gabriella sighed, shifting even closer. "But won't your parents get mad when you aren't at home in the morning?"

"I'll sneak back over in the morning," Troy told her. "Right now, I'm right where I want to be."

"Same here," Gabriella admitted, tightening her grips on his waist, the two of them excited for the day to come, but realizing at that moment that all they wanted was to be in each other's arms.


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: Stace here with our very last chapter for this story *holds back tears*! We know it's super late, but being Christmas day for Corii and Rin, and with me having the last Christmas celebrations/a teeny self induced hangover to recover from it was hard to find time to write this last one. And then we had to get it perfect which was a total team effort. Sadly it's not actually Christmas anywhere in the world (we're 3 minutes late for it being Christmas still in Hawaii) but we think you can forgive us for that.  
**

**Now for some notes, for those who were confused, Chad didn't eat cookies and gravy (yeah I got a tad confused at that too), biscuits are apparently like bread.. wikipedia it if you want some more info lol.**

**Now, we have been thinking about a possible short story to follow this, but it might be some time before we get around to writing it (if ever), because we're all super busy people with school and work and personal commitments.**

**Now that I've rambled on for forever, we just wanna wish you all a (late) Merry Christmas/Whatever you might celebrate and thank everyone who has read this story and especially those who have left a review/s. We loved getting them all, and they really motivated us when we had to write an update (which we were doing daily from chapter 9) but just wanted to crawl into bed and forget about being an author. We wrote this for a bit of fun, and we never expected to get over 500 reviews (at the time of posting this, we have 528 reviews), the response to this has just been amazing.**

**Okay, I'm going to stop my overtired rambling now because otherwise it'll be as long as the chapter! Hope you enjoy it, and don't forget those lovely reviews ;).  
**

* * *

All I Want

Gabriella was awoken a few hours later by the feeling of Troy's body shifting away from under her, the warmth his body had provided slowly drifting away as she sleepily opened her eyes, reaching her hand out to grab Troy's arm.

"Stay," she whispered, tugging him back down to her.

"It's almost six, baby. I gotta get home," Troy whispered back, kissing Gabriella softly on the lips before he went to move away.

But Gabriella had different ideas, quickly pulling Troy's lips back to her own in a heated kiss that left them both breathless. Reluctantly letting Troy go she smiled shyly.

"Sorry," she whispered bashfully and Troy chuckled softly.

"Never apologize for _that_," Troy lowered his mouth back to Gabriella's, feeling her fingers thread through his hair as she kissed him back vigorously, getting her fix of him for the morning.

"Mmm," Gabriella moaned as they broke the kiss, their lips still inches apart, their breath brushing against the other's face gently. "I think I can let you go home now."

"I really, really don't want to leave," Troy whispered against her lips, slowly running his tongue along the length of her bottom lip, making Gabriella squirm under him.

"Troy," she whimpered as she tried to capture his lips properly with her own, but Troy was teasing her, not letting it happen.

Suddenly Gabriella flipped their bodies so that she was on top of Troy. Giggling softly she caught his lips in a kiss that left them both short of breath, and even more unwilling to let the other one go.

"Come on, I'll walk you downstairs," Gabriella finally whispered, slipping off Troy and getting out of the bed.

Troy quickly followed, putting his shoes on before he wrapped an arm around Gabriella's waist and walked through the Danforth's house to the front door. When they reached the front door Gabriella stood up on her tip toes and wrapped her arms around Troy's neck, burying her face in his shoulder and taking in his scent.

"You better go before your parents wake up," Gabriella sighed, not letting her grip on Troy loosen.

"Can't I just take you home?" Troy groaned, running his hands up and down her sides.

Finally Gabriella removed her arms, taking a step away from Troy, making his hands drop to his sides.

"I'll call you later?" Troy asked softly, moving to the door and Gabriella nodded.

"And you're coming here for lunch?" She asked.

"Every year, and wild elephants wouldn't keep me away this year," Troy stated and Gabriella burst into giggles.

"Wild elephants?"

"I just like making you laugh," Troy defended, stepping back closer to her, kissing her on the nose.

"Sure you do," Gabriella teased, placing a chaste kiss upon his lips.

"If you're gunna be mean, I'll just go home," Troy pouted.

"Go then," Gabriella taunted gently, talking a few steps away. "I'm going back to bed."

Troy was at her side in a second, his big blue eyes sparkling as he cupped her face in his hands.

"But you haven't given me a goodbye kiss," Troy whispered against her lips, moving his hands down to hold her hips.

"What were all the kisses the past half hour?" Gabriella murmured, brushing her lips gently against Troy's.

"Well there was… a good morning kiss… a merry Christmas kiss… a I'm glad to see you kiss… then the "you're the best boyfriend in the world" kiss…" between each "type" of kiss, Troy brushed his lips against Gabriella's lips, making her melt into his arms.

A soft cough in the background tore them apart and the pair looked over sheepishly at Chad who had a smirk playing on his lips.

"Some people are trying to sleep while you two are down here making out," he teased.

"You can hear us upstairs?" Gabriella asked in shock, hoping Chad's parents hadn't heard.

"Nah, I just came in to wake you up, since my sisters are awake, but you weren't in there, so I came looking," Chad explained. "So why the heck are you in my house at this hour of the morning, Bolton?"

"Um…" Troy rubbed the back of his neck. "I came to wish you a Merry Christmas?"

"Like I believe that," Chad answered sarcastically. "Try again," he suggested, enjoying the situation.

"Well, I may have slept over. But, if you're going to kill me for sleeping over last night, then that's not what I was doing."

"Nice try Bolton. You're lucky it's Christmas, otherwise I'd pound you."

"Such a kind soul," Troy responded sarcastically. "I better get home before my parents wake up."

Gabriella nodded in agreement, still amazed that Chad had taken the news of Troy having slept over so well. Troy bent down and brushed his lips against the skin below Gabriella's ear, whispering to her that he'd call her later before he waved at the pair and left, a slight spring in his step.

"You're really falling in love with him aren't you?" Chad observed as he watched Gabriella watch Troy walk across the yards and disappear inside his own house.

Gabriella turned to look at her best friend, a soft smile playing across her lips as she nodded sheepishly.

"I knew it," Chad boasted teasingly before wrapping an arm around Gabriella's shoulders and leading her upstairs. "Come on, let's go and get my sisters so we can get into the presents!"

----

Almost six hours later Gabriella was hanging restlessly around the front door having just received a text from Troy saying he and his parents were on their way over.

She had just got off the phone a few minutes earlier with her mom, who'd called to wish her a Merry Christmas and had informed her there were gifts for her under the Danforth's tree. Even though their talk went fairly well, Gabriella could still tell her mom was not completely happy with her decision regarding Troy, however hearing how happy Gabriella was, her mom decided to believe her for now. But at this point, all that Gabriella could think about was being with Troy and spending more time with him. She knew in time, things would patch up with her mom, and if her mom ever met Troy, Gabriella had little doubt that her mother would disapprove of Troy.

"Waiting for something?" Chad teased and Gabriella blushed.

"Maybe?" She admitted, shifting her weight between her feet impatiently.

"You two make me want to be sick," Chad teased with a wink. "I'll just go tell Mom that the Boltons are almost here so you can greet Troy in peace."

As Chad turned to walk out the room there was a knock on the door and Gabriella pounced, opening the door to a grinning Troy and amused looking Lucille and Jack.

"Merry Christmas!" Gabriella greeted, letting Lucille and then Jack hug her as they walked past in search of the Danforths.

"Merry Christmas," Troy whispered as he pulled her to him, kicking the door closed with his foot before pressing Gabriella up against it.

Just as their lips were about to meet a squeal came from the doorway and they turned to see Jordynn smiling at them.

"Troy and Gabriella, sittin in a…." she started before Chad walked in quickly, picking up his youngest sister and slinging her over his shoulder, carrying her away from the couple who burst into laughter.

"I think we're destined to be interrupted," Troy groaned as he wrapped an arm around Gabriella's waist, the moment having been ruined.

"I think we are too," Gabriella agreed as she wrapped her arm around Troy, walking with him through to the living room where everyone was gathered for the last presents to be given out.

Troy sat on the floor with his back against the wall and he pulled Gabriella to be sitting between his legs, his arms wrapped around her waist and settling on her stomach as she leant into him.

"So guess what my parents got me?" Troy whispered in her ear, his thumbs drawing designs on her stomach.

"A new set of aprons?" Gabriella replied cheekily, squealing as Troy squeezed her sides playfully.

"Funny Ella," Troy chuckled sarcastically. "Actually, that's close to one gift my mom got me…a box full of cookie cutters, pans, spatulas, mixing bowls, measuring cups…she says she's so happy that I know how to cook now. She expects homemade cookies from me now every time I come home."

Gabriella giggled, tilting her head back to rest in the crook of his neck. "Well now you have no excuse to call me and complain that you miss my cookies. You can cook them yourself."

"Doubtful that I'll be baking cookies at school."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you have your apron so you feel complete."

"Thanks Ella," Troy muttered sarcastically, squeezing her sides once more. "But really, my parents got me something else, and I think you're gonna love it."

"What is it?"

"They bought me a roundtrip plane ticket so I can come up and see you," Troy smiled widely, unable to control his excitement. "So, first chance I get, I'm on that plane."

"You're really coming to see me?" Gabriella asked, shifting in his arms.

"Of course Ella…every chance I get I'm going to come see you or help you come down to see me." Troy smiled down at her, brushing his lips on the side of her forehead very softly.

Gabriella shifted once again in his arms, cuddling into his front she laid her head back against his chest, deciding to relish every moment she had with him. Content with where they were, neither really noticed the rest of the family coming, both of them too lost in their thoughts of each other.

"Gabriella, this is for you," Jordynn announced as she started handing out presents, bringing Gabriella out of her trance as she handed Gabriella her present from Chad who smiled goofily as he remembered what he'd bought his best friend.

Soon all the presents were gone, except for the ones from Troy and Gabriella to each other which Chad had told Jordynn to leave for the couple to exchange in private.

"Gabriella why don't you and Troy go upstairs to exchange gifts while we go and start preparing lunch?" Mrs. Danforth suggested, smiling at the couple who seemed to be lost in their own world.

"Thanks, Sara," Gabriella said as Troy helped her up and they collected the gifts before leaving the room hand in hand, oblivious to the giddy smiles plastered on the faces of everyone else in the room as they watched the small, wordless affection between the two.

Upstairs the pair sat across from each other on Gabriella's bed, two gifts in front of each other them.

"You open yours first," Troy encouraged and Gabriella shook her head.

"No you."

"Ladies first," Troy prompted and Gabriella rolled her eyes at the cliché before attempting a compromise.

"You open that one," she pointed to the biggest present Troy had in front of him. "And I'll open this one." She pointed to the similar sized one she had in front of her.

"Okay," Troy agreed, picking the gift up in his hands and watching as Gabriella did the same. "One.. two… three."

The pair tore into the gifts, exploding into laughter as they produced two identical, light brown teddy bears.

"Chad's idea?" Troy asked through his laughter.

"Taylor's," Gabriella answered, leaning forward to kiss Troy gently on the lips.

"What are you gunna call it?" Troy asked and Gabriella thought for a second before answering.

"Troybear," she giggled. "What are you calling yours?"

"Bella," Troy said with a nod. "Ella and bear put together."

As the laughter died down Gabriella had a serious request.

"Troy?" She asked, waiting until he was looking at her again. "Can you sleep with Troybear until we go back to school? Cause then he'll smell like you when I'm back at school."

Troy smiled as he watched her blush, loving her idea. "Deal, baby, but only if you sleep with Bella so she smells like you."

Gabriella nodded before pointing down at his last present. "You've still got that to open."

"I'll open this, and then afterwards you open yours, okay?" Troy asked softly, wanting to watch her open her last present.

"Okay," Gabriella echoed, watching as Troy tore into the paper, producing "The Best Yet" the new cd from his favourite band Switchfoot.

"Yes! This is what I wanted! Now I don't have to change the cd to listen to my favourite songs," Troy cried out in excitement, leaning over and capturing Gabriella's lips in a short kiss. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Gabriella replied, loving how excited her gift had made him, and suddenly really excited for what he had bought her. "Now my turn?"

Troy nodded his head as his blue eyes intensely watched her carefully open the red wrapping paper, producing a long, rectangular jewelry box. Gently lifting the lid off Gabriella gasped as she saw a tiny silver heart shaped locket sitting in the box.

"Troy, it's beautiful," she gasped, lifting it gently from the box.

"Open it," Troy said happily, watching as she fumbled slightly opening it before she managed it, seeing inside a photo of the two of them that Chad had taken a few days earlier when they were all hanging out.

"Can you put it on, please?" Gabriella asked, handing Troy the locket before she scooted across the bed to sit in front of him. Troy obliged and fastened it around her neck before he turned her around to face him.

"I love it," Gabriella whispered, looking down at it as it rested just above the neckline of her sweater. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, and I love my gifts," Troy smiled, brushing his thumb gently over her cheek.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you much," Gabriella said softly. "I wanted to, but I was so nervous, and I wasn't sure you'd like it and-"

Troy cut her off, leaning over to place his lips on hers, both of them smiling into the sweet kiss.

As they pulled apart, Troy looked into the chocolate brown eyes of the girl he had quickly fallen for, realizing just how grateful he was that Gabriella had come home with Chad for Christmas. When he thought of the relationship they had in front of them and all the growing they would go through together, Troy felt a smile tug at his lips, knowing that in his lifetime, he only wanted to be with the girl sitting right across from him.

"Ella, you got me perfect gifts," Troy said as they pulled apart, trying to assure her with his words. "Ever since I met you a few weeks ago, I have always had you on my mind. My parents would ask me what I wanted for Christmas, and no matter how much I tried, you always came to the forefront of my mind. I love these gifts you got me because I know they came from you. And nothing you could get me would be better than what I already have with you because you're all I wanted this Christmas."

_Baby all I want for Christmas is you_


End file.
